If you are writing a raw first draft for NaNoWriMo, go back to writing. Do feel free to bookmark this post and come back to it in December, or better yet, January, with your completed draft. My next few posts will contain advice for revising broad structural elements of your story. What’s your focus? EverythingContinueContinue reading “Focus”
Author Archives: Lara Zielinsky
Preptober week 4
This final week before the rush begins, take a writing break and crack open some other aspects of creativity: visuals. This week you’re going to do some “manifesting” by creating marketing materials. Write your book pitch Focusing on the big things about the story idea that excite you (and thus will excite readers), write theContinueContinue reading “Preptober week 4”
Preptober week 3
This week you’ll be writing – short things that are part story, part summary, all background. This week is about setting the main character(s) in your mind. Turn them around and over and about in your hands to see them from all sides. You’re going to write a “now” story about the characters in November.ContinueContinue reading “Preptober week 3”
Preptober Week 2
You should be coming to the end of the first book you’ve read this month and writing a review of it. You can publish that review, or keep it for yourself. That’s entirely up to you. For week 2 we’re going to focus the second half hour of your set-aside time on BRAINSTORMING. To writeContinueContinue reading “Preptober Week 2”
Preptober Checklist
Use this checklist as a way to do the first thing on it: ESTABLISH A ROUTINE. If you work on ONE checklist item each time you sit down during October, you will gather together all the things (tangible and intangible) you will need to successfully write 50,000 words of a novel during November in NationalContinueContinue reading “Preptober Checklist”
Recommended Reads: Setting
A conversation in a group prompted this one. Setting is more than just place. It’s also time period (and the things that can and can’t happen because technology), and the unique mores or manners required in a particular scenario at that time and place. If your character will be breaking these rules of behavior, thereContinueContinue reading “Recommended Reads: Setting”
Recommended Reads: Point of View
Of all the tools in storytelling, point of view seems to be the most often bungled. An author says they’ve chosen omniscient POV, but what they’ve written is close third person POV with numerous errors. Or they wrote 3rd person POV from the MC’s perspective, but then when both the love interest and the MCContinueContinue reading “Recommended Reads: Point of View”
Recommended Reads: Characters
Character development, or characterization, involves a lot of psychology, IMHO. Filling out character sheets lends itself to very stereotypical presentations. Joe Friday’s “just the facts, ma’am” comes to mind when I see them. They even look like rap sheets, IMHO – very off-putting. If you want full-bodied characters, you can’t boil them down to wordsContinueContinue reading “Recommended Reads: Characters”
Recommended Reads: Plotting
I’ve been doing a great deal of developmental editing lately and that entails often pointing writers to examples or books that discuss strategies for whatever they’re struggling with. I thought I would share a few of my go-to reads for various kinds of writing help. Help for structuring your plot You know all the partsContinueContinue reading “Recommended Reads: Plotting”
Formatting
Just a quick hit today, that hopefully will be a popular post for people to return to again and again. Q: How do I format my writing for an editor, agent, or publisher? First, understand that an editor, agent, or publisher is going to be working on your manuscript to make improvements. Manuscript format forContinueContinue reading “Formatting”
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