Straight talk from the sisters about blood, sweat and ink
We’ve all heard it. Murder your darlings. But what does it mean? Is it just another tip in the ever-growing list of misunderstood writing advice? Or is it the cornerstone of every successful writing project? First the history lesson. It appears this advice originated from Arthur Quiller-Couch. He made this comment in 1914 and all …
Continue reading “Is Killing Your Darlings Murdering Your Book?”
As a young teacher I had a sign above my blackboard (back in the day when we still used chalk!) that said Class Rules: 1. The teacher …
Continue reading “Ho-Hum, I’ve Got the Editing Blues”
I’ve been working on my current novel since May. Back then it was a vague one-sentence idea. I wrote about four beat sheets a month, feeling out the story and figuring out how to shape it. In October I started outlining, and as I outlined I’d find problems and head back to the beat sheet …
Continue reading “Write, Revise & Repeat – Are You Stuck in a Rut?”
Exhilarated that I received several requests for full reads on the manuscript of my first novel, I saw myself on the fast track to getting published. Most of my writer buds had sent out tons of queries and received “thanks, but no thanks” that’s if they received any response at all. I’d only sent out …
Continue reading “Self-Editing: How To Pull the Weeds From Your Manuscript.”
Whatever your writing process, whether you outline or dive straight into prose, there’s one step we all must do – story edit. There are innumerable things to edit in a manuscript, but let’s start with the bones of the story. After all, adding metaphors and sensory descriptions won’t matter if the story is weak. So …
Continue reading “Story Edit Using The “Save The Cat” Basic Beats”