Nathan Bransford - The Forums

I think clarity is an important issue. Whatever method you decide to use, it must be clear to the reader and it must be consistent. Are you familiar with the different languages you are using? It is possible to catch the flavour of someone speaking English as a second language. You have a somewhat d...

Canadian Club Whiskey

Never done this before. Thanks ahead of time! Dear [Agent’s Name], It’s been a decade since nineteen-year-old Emily Fairfield’s mother died. Ever since, she has selectively preserved only positive memories of her mother, Laurie, and cultivated her same tastes in books, movies, and music - not sure ...

Hi, WilliamMJones: D on't you hate it when you post something and nobody comments? I have an excerpt posted below with one comment. One wonders is it that bad or that good? So boring nobody can read it long enough to make a comment? But enough about me and my insecurities. I think this is pretty goo...

Hi, Evenlyn: Keep in mind that I'm no expert and I don't read in this genre, but these are my impressions: It's clear, it flows well, and it sets a mood and of course get me wondering what's going to happen. Hi all, Here is the prologue to my YA paranormal (if you'd like, you can read the query in ...

Well, I have to say I still like the first new version better. I love that line about weaving between the game and reality. Good points all around. Thank you from all four chambers of my heart. How about this? In the video game Ages: High Seas, unemployed -I think you could keep this, adds a bit ab...

I followed the link in Nathan's blog on Friday to the agent page, Kidlit.com, to read the article on Art vs Business, and as I was cruising around the site came to an article containing an answer to this very question. This is the link if you'd like to read it: http://kidlit.com/tag/despair/. You mi...

Any comments on anything to do with craft much appreciated. The young Canadian couple waiting for the bus in front of their budget hotel doesn’t know that two prostitutes are riding on the tour to Mexico. If they knew, the young man might shrug and smirk; the young woman might balk, refuse to board,...

Hi, Evelyn: This reads quite smoothly. Just a couple of things jumped out at me as I was reading that might make it smoother. ------ Dear [Agent]: Seventeen-year old Helene Jacobsen has never questioned why or how her parents adopted her. She's led - I'd change this to she leads in order to keep yo...

Pantser with internal planning. I begin with pantsing. Once I have the first line then off I go. At some point I stop to plan and consider what I have and then off I go pantsing again. In the last revision of my novel I actually wrote something and then thought gee, I think this is the end. After co...

I write short stories linearly, but my novel I didn't. The novel came to me through feeling, dreams, ideas - all out of order. I had a multitude of scenes and events recorded and then had to sort them into some kind of plot. Not the easiest approach, no doubt about it, but it's the way it happened -...

This reads quite well to me. I'm no expert so take what you feel is helpful and disregard the rest. Dear (Agent name): Dominic Taylor is able to do strange things, like such as, like is not correct grammar opening locked doors and passing by security cameras undetected. He’s never been able to expla...

Hi BlancheKing: I had a response from an agency that included suggestions for revision of my manuscript and the offer to resubmit if I chose to make the changes they suggested. You can see the thread under Revision Suggestions By Agent in this All Things Finding An Agent category. Nathan posted a re...

I have struggled with the issue of narrative distance, so this is very interesting to me. It's hard to execute the change from a more distant narrator into the close third person and do it well and do it smoothly and once you have that skill, it's hard to recognize when and where in the story to use...

I agree with your disagreement, Wilderness. It's beneficial to see what others think about certain articles. Personally, I tend to write low concept. I just write what I feel like writing about, and it's usually characters overcoming interior struggles. Then, I go back and revise everything, but not...