Professional Literary Consultancy for Emerging and Established Authors
Writing a book is a major achievement, but finishing the manuscript is only half the battle. The next crucial phase is editing. Learning how to edit your own book can help you transform your rough draft into a polished, professional final product – whether you’re planning to self-publish or submit to an agent. This step-by-step …
There are many ways to move forward with writing your book, that aren’t as daunting as they may at first seem. And that is why you need to carve out the time to move forward with the things that fulfil you creatively.
Creating tension is something writers strive for and is the difference between a pedestrian story and one that lifts off the page and into the pit of the reader’s stomach.
“It just didn’t grab me,” will sound very familiar to anyone who has had a rejection from a literary agent. Your opening chapters are key to ensure capturing their attention.
When the inability to concentrate or move forward with your book strikes, you need to re-establish your focus, notch up your concentration levels and really plough head first over that hurdle.
A manuscript assessment, also known as a manuscript appraisal, structural report or manuscript critique, is a report with, in our case, accompanying annotated notes on your manuscript. When should I have a manuscript assessment? The manuscript assessment is usually done in the early stages of the editing process and once the book is finished. You …
The opening of your novel is key in engaging your reader. Writing a prologue for your novel can be very risky – it is a double-edged sword; if not used properly it will be a weight around the neck of your story, used correctly on the other hand and it becomes a very effective literary …
Read on for the essentials of the ‘what’, ‘why’ and ‘how’ of character backstory. Download our printable worksheets and join in on our character backstory building mini challenge. What is character backstory? Character backstory is a history of the events – particularly those relating to character development – that precede the narrative of the novel. …
When literary agents are asked what it is that they are looking for in a manuscript submission, the answer is always the same and has been for as long as fiction has been in publication. In fact, it has been for as long as stories have been told. There are the tangible aspects such as …
“Show don’t tell” is a much used phrase, to the point of it having become a bit of a cliche, but one that, when fully understood, has the power to completely transform your writing. Use these 4 simple steps to understand, implement and perfect the “show don’t tell” technique: Avoid summary narrative Appeal to the …