Nathan Bransford - The Forums

If you don't mind me jumping in, I can tell you from my own experience that three months is a typical wait on a partial of fifty pages. It's hard to accept, but querying authors just aren't the priority for agents. Although, one time I sent a full in (a requested revision) and waited three months. N...

polymath wrote:Down the well, I enjoyed innumerable beverages in my day. I miss them. Not one drop has passed my lips since I went on the water wagon in '96 though.

Sorry. My bad. I guess I skimmed the top of your post.

If I were to characterize myself based on my brew preferences, appearance-wise I'm a pale stout. Personality-wise, I'm a three-row barley malt and Saaz, Hallertau, and Strissel hops complected lambic. I'm as tempestuous as a bubbling wort freshly innoculated with yeast when I'm aggravated, as smoot...

Barbara Kingsolver's The Poisonwood Bible is told from four (?) different character viewpoints. I've read that Kingsolver took ten years to complete the novel, writing it in its entirety from each character's perspective. Then she integrated the points of view chapter by chapter in the order that ma...

My biggest rookie mistake that I made for years was getting (and taking) writing/publishing advice from other newbs instead of seeking out established professionals and people who were ahead of me on the path I wanted to be on. So I'd say: don't listen to people who are where you are, listen to peo...

Describing the main character by having him/her stand in front of or pass by a mirror or other reflective surface and pause to admire his/her own heart-shaped face or strong jaw and piercing blue/emerald green/chocolate brown/slate gray eyes and flowing/unruly cascades of hair. Totally did that in ...

My second rookie mistake was submitting a carelessly, anger-written, sexual-innuendo filled, thinly-veiled sarcastic composition the target audience loved, much to my naive embarrassment from the startling attention it drew. It took me awhile to figure out why the audience easily bridged gaps I'd i...

I agree with Margo that querying too soon is a huge rookie mistake. Once a novel is written it takes a lot of input from other people to get it into publishable shape. I think most "experienced" writers know that their work needs to go through the filter of a critique group or set of trust...

Another Outlander reader here. I've read it three or four times. The same goes for Eye of the Needle. They're both reliably good reads with lots of tension - even the third or fourth time around.

I seem to have more of a "beginnings" problem. Can't seem to write a compelling opening. I'm fine once I get past the introductions, but...blah. Anyway, I think if you are the type of writer that doesn't outline then it can be trickier to wind your away around to an ending that makes sense...

I finally fell for all the hype - bought The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. Loved the prologue, but I'm having trouble getting into the main story. I'll hang in for a few more chapters, because it is well-written, but...I dunno.

I agree with what the other commenters have said about the ALO. I think it would be helpful, and maybe even intriguing, to know what that stands for. Tell us what is at stake here. I know you allude to it, but maybe you should just say it. I noticed in another post that you had asked about the simil...

But guys are reading Hunger Games, female MC. I think it has more to do with the plot, voice and who is the one providing books. This is very true. My thirteen-year old son has read both The Hunger Games and Catching Fire. We're both waiting for the third book to come out in August. I've noticed an...

rmorris wrote:Not that Star Trek is a bad thing, but do you really want to be saying "lived long and prosperous lives" in only your second sentence?

Ha! That's too funny. Didn't even occur to me. Thanks for the Spock check. ;p

Thanks for the input, Anobile1. You're right about the time frame. The story does take place in the future, centuries after a world-wide catastrophe that decimated cities and populations. I'm trying to avoid the dreaded info dump at the start of the story, so the world-building is being revealed in ...