Revising for Structure

When I finish the dummy for my current picture book project, I’m going to dig back into my magical realism middle grade novel.

Here’s an amazing post that came in an e-newsletter today. It’s perfect and I know it will help me. If you’re revising your NaNoWriMo magnum opus, it might help you too.

The Five Commandments of Storytelling

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• Don’t Let Craft Advice Silence Your Authorial Voice
• A Beginning Reader for St. Patrick’s Day
• What You Need to Know About Query Letters
• Inspiration for Writers
• Funny Picture Books Need Golden Hearts

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From The Write Practice Blog, Advice on Creating Good Bad Guys

The most important character in your story is the villain. If you find that your story is lacking something, you probably don’t have to look any further than the opposition. If your hero doesn’t have much to overcome, he can’t be much of a hero. The greater the evil he faces, the greater your protagonist will be. Even in stories of man against nature, it can’t just be any storm, it has to be the Perfect Storm. See what I mean? Click below for some great ways to make your opposition more effective–and more original.

50 Shades of Villain: How to Characterize Without Cliché.

FIRST FIVE FRENZY with Amy Boggs of The Donald Maass Literary Agency | chasingthecrazies

Here’s an interview with a top literary agent about the first five pages of your novel. Amy Boggs is currently open to queries. See her preferences on the Donald Maass Literary Agency site. (Also, be sure to read The Fire in Fiction by Donald Maass. It’s amazing!)

FIRST FIVE FRENZY with Amy Boggs of The Donald Maass Literary Agency | chasingthecrazies.

What Small Press Editors Want and Why You Should Care

Here’s a great insight into the process of a small press editor. Much of this holds for any kind of manuscript submission. It also applies to readers, if you are selling to them directly.

What Editors Want; A Must-Read for Writers Submitting to Literary Magazines | The Review Review.

Dialogue: Skip Three Problems That Make Readers Pass on Your Story

From The Write Practice blog, here are some great notes about what works in dialogue and what doesn’t. Click on the link below.

Three Rumors About Dialogue.

Those Pesky Adverbs: How They are Killing Your Writing

Make your writing come alive. Dump most of the modifiers. Here’s a post to tell you why and how.

How to Cut Adverbs From Your Writing | WritersDigest.com.

There Can Be Only One…Main Character, That Is

About main characters. Screenwriters know about story structure. It is a good idea to listen to them about this. Of course, there are always exceptions, but if you think your book has more than one main character, this post is worth reading.

Let’s Schmooze – Doug Eboch on Screenwriting: There Can Be Only One…Main Character, That Is.

The Same But Different: Writing For Children’s Series | SCBWI Metro NY News

Challenges of writing the second book in a series.

The Same But Different: Writing For Children’s Series | SCBWI Metro NY News.

7 Deadly Sins of Prologues–Great Novel Beginnings Part 2 | Kristen Lamb’s Blog

If you have started your book with a prologue, here is something you should read from Kristen Lamb. Her entire blog, by the way, is fantastic!

7 Deadly Sins of Prologues–Great Novel Beginnings Part 2 | Kristen Lamb’s Blog.

Prologue in Fiction | The Editor’s Blog

From an editor, here’s a well-thought-out post on the pros and cons of prologues from a contemporary point of view. It starts with the pros. which, if you have used one, you already know. Keep reading. You may need yours, but you do need to know why they are less common in contemporary fiction than in works written 30, 40, 0r 50 years ago.

Prologue in Fiction | The Editor’s Blog.