Nathan Bransford - The Forums

Just at the moment I'd like to know how to stop my boy from reading. But I'm just grumpy because Amazon ratted him out for starting new books long after bedtime by emailing me about my new Kindle purchase. Clearly a library trip is in order for tomorrow before I have to hand my first born, the boy i...

I've noted that good chapter breaks occur when a dramatic unit is completed. Ideally, a chapter ought to stand on its own as a self-contained story when excerpted. Not all that rare to be able to do that with a published novel, but not as common it would seem as a best practice to follow. I don't k...

Idea time: Could authors adopt an "academic" model for publishing their work and cutting out the Publishing House? What you need: A large pool of authors across a number of genres that are willing to offer brutally honest suggestions/edits/feedback on manuscripts in return for the same. U...

Another interesting article: http://blogs.ft.com/gapperblog/2009/12/ ... st-amazon/

I've nothing helpful to add to the discussion here; I use random name generators and click refresh over and over until something strikes me, often not something the generator came up with. However, there is a very funny story about this titled "The Angst of Hero Naming" here: http://www.la...

Tori wrote:Thanks! Should have looked harder in the FAQ's.

I knew I'd seen it before and still had trouble finding it again. :) I just figured if I could find it again and post it, you'd get your answer faster.

Hi Nathan, I'm sixteen and currently polishing my manuscript. I'm not quite ready to query yet, but when i do should i mention my age in the letter? Does it matter? Thanks for taking the time and, by the way, great blog. I love the new design. That's answered in the FAQs hidden under "When sho...

In addition to Absolute Write, which was already mentioned: You can post anything on the roving crits forum at Forward Motion. (Free to join, but must join to see most boards) http://fmwriters.com/ If you write Sci Fi, Fantasy or Horror: Critters is free, must contribute to get critiqued. http://ww...

In addition to Absolute Write, which was already mentioned: You can post anything on the roving crits forum at Forward Motion. (Free to join, but must join to see most boards) http://fmwriters.com/ If you write Sci Fi, Fantasy or Horror: Critters is free, must contribute to get critiqued. http://www...

Here is another take the decision to delay the release of ebooks:
http://www.idealog.com/blog/the-ebook-w ... as-subtext

Today I am procrastinating because my hard drive is dying. There is a new one sitting on the coffee table in front of me waiting for my husband to stick in my laptop, install stuff, and restore my documents onto. My hard drive has been losing blocks randomly for a while, most spectacularly when it l...

I don't know how you know when your writing is good enough, but I do know that mine isn't. At least mine isn't yet. I write and study with the goal of writing something that is good enough someday.

Below are my thoughts. Please keep in mind that I am a rank amateur and take with a grain of salt. Dear: An unstoppable army prepares to attack the kingdom of Epertase, while Rasi, once the kingdom’s greatest warrior, remains long since Leave out these two words. banished to a mountain exile. If the...

I am still feeling out how I want to outline. There are a number of methods detailed on various websites that I have collected. The most detailed methods I have seen online are: Lazette's phase outline, explained in her free NaNo Book http://www.lazette.net/ (book link is bottom of first screen towa...

I am starting to work on my third novel. The first I outlined a little, then deviated from the outline, then reworked the outline... I only wrote about half of it, but have a detailed outline for the rest. I will revisit it at a (much, much) later time (if ever) . My second project was completely ou...