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What It Was Like to Submit to an AuthorSpark Editor
Nikki Goodwin I’d finished the first full draft of my paranormal romance. I was ready to send it to an editor before I inundated the agents of all my favorite writers. I was terrified to show it to a professional. What if it wasn’t good enough? But at the...
3 Reasons Why You Need the Novel Analysis Worksheet
Teresa Crumpton Bloom PlugIn PlaceholderAre your key scenes in order? Use the Worksheet to Ensure Your Key Scenes are There and in Order The worksheet sets out—in order—the key scenes that appear in most commercial stories—novels or screenplays. In the middle...
Showers of Words
Paula Moldenhauer Fear not, Earth! Be glad and celebrate! God has done great things. Fear not, wild animals! The fields and meadows are greening up. The trees are bearing fruit again: a bumper crop of fig trees and vines! Children of Zion,...
Creative Communion
Paula Moldenhauer Sudsy water splashed on my hands. The distant mountains, framed by my kitchen window, captured my gaze. But in the quiet of this mindless task, something beautiful unfolded. The scrubbing of dirty dishes and even the delight in the...
Building Your World in Your First Line
Jonathan Ammon When we’re leaving a bookstore, my wife Tatiana and I like to play a game: we go through our bag of purchases, and we read aloud the first line from each of the new books. Whoever has the book with the agreed-upon best first line wins. Our game...
Narrative Summary – How? Why? When?
Teresa Crumpton I get it that, in fiction, dramatic events need to be shown in scene. A single point-of-view character wants something and strives against obstacles to get it—all shown in the real-time of the story. And mundane events need to be omitted or...
How To Write the Emotion-Packed Scene
Teresa Crumpton Get Inside Your Character’s Head At the start of a story, I like to be very deep inside my character because I hope my readers will empathize with the character and come along for the story journey. I practice seeing through his eyes. Depending...
Ways to Create Subtext
Teresa Crumpton “…but I know it when I see it—” Subtext can be hard to define, but it’s worth the effort. It makes room for the part of a scene the intelligent reader brings to the story. Of course, the expertise of the clever-and-confident author sparks the...
Early Questions to Shape Your Story
Teresa Crumpton Blank pages are not scary (A mantra to chant while you shower.) The next time you’re faced with another beginning writing session, consider this strategy. Don’t lose a moment; show those naked passages who’s boss, and whip out your handy-dandy...
Battling the Dreaded SAP
Teresa Crumpton When I’m editing fiction or nonfiction, one of the most common speed bumps I trip on is The Simultaneous Action Problem (SAP). Sounds serious, right? It’s not. It’s also known as the As/While Issue, and it’s just a speedbump. It happens...
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