editing

Four Tips for Beta Reading in Other Genres

May 21, 2013 Writing Stuff
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Recently, a good friend of mine asked for my help in identifying the issues with her story. She’d struggled with it on and off for years and was wondering if she should just chuck the whole thing. I offered to take a look at it, even though her story’s genre isn’t one I know well. [...]

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Tagged as: advice for writers, beta reader, critique partners/groups, editing, feedback, genre, Jami Gold, paranormal author, romance novels, story structure

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How to Revise for a Stronger Theme

February 21, 2013 Writing Stuff
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Last time, we talked about using our story’s and characters’ themes to keep us on track as we draft. But no matter how well we know our themes during drafting, we can probably make them stronger in revision. Maybe we thought a character’s arc would focus on one theme, but another one popped up during [...]

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Tagged as: advice for writers, beta reader, cause and effect, editing, Edittorrent, feedback, Jami Gold, paranormal author, subtext, theme

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Introducing the Query/Blurb Exchange Club!

January 15, 2013 Writing Stuff
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The response to my request for help on my query in my last post was amazing. I really shouldn’t have been surprised. After all, we all know you are amazing, right? *smile* But the tremendous outpouring of offers to help also made me feel guilty. I’ve heard stories from others about how hard it can be [...]

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Tagged as: advice for writers, agents, beta reader, editing, feedback, Jami Gold, paranormal author, pitching, premise, queries, self-publishing

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Four Tips for Fixing the Infamous “Info Dump”

December 27, 2012 Writing Stuff
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While I’m on holiday vacation this week, I’ll share a post from my early days of blogging. We’ve all heard of those eye-rolling, telling “information dumps,” yet at some point, we all have to get chunks of information across to the reader. My usual technique with world-building is to show, show, show, but sometimes that’s [...]

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Tagged as: advice for writers, editing, information dump, Jami Gold, page turning stories, paranormal author, tension

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Immersion Master Class with Margie Lawson: Part One — Guest: Melinda Collins

September 4, 2012 Writing Stuff
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Whoo boy, do I have a treat for you today. The lovely Melinda Collins recently returned from an Immersion Master Class with Margie Lawson, and she’s here today to share her experience. I’m playing this cool now, but it was a different story earlier. When I heard Melinda was going to a weekend-long writer’s retreat, [...]

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Tagged as: advice for writers, editing, feedback, guest blogs, information dump, Jami Gold, Margie Lawson, organized, paranormal author, story openings, The Bookshelf Muse, workshops

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Spotlight on Subtext: When Characters Are Liars — Guest: Angela Ackerman

August 28, 2012 Writing Stuff
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I’ve mentioned before that I love subtext. I’ve analyzed the Spiderman reboot for subtext. I’ve written about how to revise for subtext, how to use subtext in emotional scenes, and how character development happens in subtext. Yeah, I’m a tad obsessed with subtext. So when the fantastic Angela Ackerman of The Bookshelf Muse blog offered [...]

Tagged as: advice for writers, character flaws, editing, guest blogs, Jami Gold, listening to characters, paranormal author, point of view, subtext, The Bookshelf Muse

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From Newbie to Published: 12 Tips — Guest: Tiffany Allee

July 24, 2012 Writing Stuff
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While I’m at the Romance Writers of America (RWA) Annual Conference this week, I’ve invited two authors who have recently debuted to share their insights. Today, I’m excited to introduce Tiffany Allee. Tiffany and I actually know each other in real life, as we belong to the same RWA chapter and I mooch rides to the meetings off [...]

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Tagged as: advice for writers, editing, guest blogs, Jami Gold, organized, paranormal author, plotter vs. pantser, Tiffany Allee

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Blogiversary Winners & a Gift for All

July 12, 2012 Writing Stuff
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Yay! I officially made it to the two-year mark on my blog. Two years of comments, questions, and debates. On my post announcing my Blogiversary Contest, we had enough comments to earn three winners! The worst part of the contest was picking the names. The worst, you say? No, that doesn’t mean I didn’t want anyone to [...]

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Tagged as: advice for writers, editing, information dump, Jami Gold, Janice Hardy, page turning stories, paranormal author

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The Hard Work of Writing: Do You Embrace It?

July 3, 2012 Writing Stuff
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When you first started writing, did you realize how much work it would take? Or were you like most of us, thinking that you’d written your share of emails, essays, or Christmas letters and that writing a whole story wouldn’t be—couldn’t be—that much harder? But at some point—maybe it’s when we struggle to make the [...]

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Tagged as: advice for writers, dreams, editing, Edittorrent, fan fiction, feedback, grammar, Harry Potter, Jami Gold, paranormal author, professionalism

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What Do We “Owe” New Writers?

June 21, 2012 Writing Stuff
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The last couple of posts have been about beta reading, beta readers, and authors helping each other.  I love positive, uplifting conversations like that.  But the comments brought up an important point: Sometimes the relationships we have with other writers in our circle aren’t all unicorns and rainbows. Sometimes a beta reader might give us [...]

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Tagged as: advice for writers, authors, beta reader, editing, feedback, Jami Gold, paranormal author, professionalism, self-publishing

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