I once sent a novel of about 140,000 words to a really good line editor. It came back roughly 15,000 words shorter. The story was still there, but she had […]
Your Elevator Pitch Is the Plot, Not the Theme
Someone asks what your book is about, and you freeze. You start a sentence, abandon it, start another, and three rambling minutes later you have somehow said both too much […]
Making Out-of-Character Actions Feel Earned
You hand your pages to a reader and they leave a note at a moment you thought was working perfectly: “She would never do that.” Oof. It is a frustrating […]
Literary Citizenship: How to Show Up for Other Writers
I once gave a reading for my first book where exactly five people showed up. Five. It was awkward. I’m not going to pretend otherwise. But I remember those people, […]
How To Know You’re Ready for a Developmental Editor
There comes a point in revision when it can get really hard to see your own book clearly. Maybe half of the manuscript feels solid and the other half is […]
Why Character Likability Is the Wrong Question
When I was writing my first novel, I worried for months that my protagonist wasn’t likable enough. She was prickly. She made the same bad choice over and over. She […]
Titling Your Book When Nothing Feels Right
Finding the right book title can feel strangely difficult, especially when you’ve lived with the manuscript for so long. My favorite strategy is to go looking for the title inside […]