Nathan Bransford - The Forums

Pantser here as well. I'm like CV though- I jump all over the place. The very first scene I wrote in my current novel doesn't actually show up until like, the third chapter or so. Whenever I get stuck somewhere, I just skip ahead to a new scene that I've already got figured out in my head and then I...

Hi all!! Sorry I've been MIA- I banned myself from the boards until I could complete some editing. :) I've been reading (and reading and reading and reading) queries all over the place, and I basically just deleted what I'd been working with and started all over. So here's the latest- is this workin...

How exciting!! Congratulations. I'm sure you're thrilled. Always great to see real people getting deals!!

I'm not published, but just wanted to second what polymath said. I recently attended a SCBWI Editors Day, and one of the sessions had two editors (one from Abrams and one from a smaller press) who read the first pages of works submitted by attendees and then commented on them. Any time that someone ...

Thanks for your input washingtonwriter, Trixie, and Brenda!! I totally agree about the awkwardness of dealing with everything that would occur after the battle. What I've done at this point is skipped to the next afternoon when she wakes up. But I'm not really doing an information dump at that point...

Ok I think the last one was terrible, and I'm not even waiting for your feedback before I post a new one. Is that poor form? I apologize. I also apologize to any of you who read that last try. I'm not sure what I was thinking last night.....but when I read it this morning I was like, "Wow. I su...

Thank you all SO MUCH for your help. I've tried to incorporate everyone's suggestions in round 2. Your feeback really showed me that my query didn't do such a great job of telling what the book was actually ABOUT. charlotte49ers- thanks for the note about the title. My original title was just Grace ...

Ok, so I'm not an expert or anything (although I do play one in real life)- but I think your most recently posted query is excellent. I love love love the very first sentence. Really, there's only one thing that bugs me- But with her abilities growing, and following displays of rage-fuelled aggressi...

**I've revised this query. The most recent version can be found in the replies below- It's the 8th reply. I know this needs work, but I've stared at it for so long that I can't figure out what to do with it, so I think that means it's time to turn it over to you guys. Feel free to rip it to pieces-...

I have times like this too, where it seems like I could write and write. (And then there are the times when I sit at the computer and can't do a thing.) But during the weeks where it seems like all I do is write- I have to make myself stop. One of the things I do when I stop is type a few quick note...

I love this idea, but I don't have any specific music for my characters. I do set Amos Lee on repeat/shuffle when I sit down to write though. His voice puts me at ease.

Leila- That world-building list is AMAZING!! Thanks so much for sharing. My novel is YA urban fantasy as well (isn’t everybody’s?! At least it seems that way sometimes!) so I’m definitely going to tear through that list when I start editing. I’m an “edit when I’m finished” type, for the most part. A...

Thanks you two! Brenda- good idea to write both and see what happens. I think I'll do that. Typically when I get stuck on a section I just skip it and move on to a part that I already have figured out- then I just have to go back and fill in the gaps and make it match up. For whatever reason, that i...

National High Five Day! I love it!

...and I can't seem to figure out how to start it. I've worked on this book for months, slowly building up to this major conflict at the end.....and now that battle's over, and I know the random things I need to tie up in the end, and I know how the last few paragraphs will go....but I can't seem to...