Nathan Bransford - The Forums

Thanks for the insight!

Yes, I do have a problem with staying focused, which is something I'm working very hard on to correct.

So I copyrighted my first draft of my MS as soon as it was done so that I could hand it out to my family and friends without fear of the story getting stolen. But now, after a healthy dose of reviews and insight, I'm barreling through the edits and re-writes and plan on being done the second draft w...

Sometimes I take breaks without actually taking a break. What I mean by that is if most of my creative energy is focused on a big story I'm working on, occasionally I will take a break from that "serious" work and just write a couple blurbs about nonsense. It could be anything from a funny...

Yea, I don't know who Horace Walpole was either lol. In fact, I just googled him and my quote (or at least what I thought was my quote) came up. Figures Horace would steal my thunder several centuries before I even had a chance haha.

After destroying an old draft of a query letter that just wasn't working, and before staring at a blank screen pretending that it's anything but, I decided to take a break from all this "work" to write something fun just for me. I'm not sure how many Fantasy Football Fans are in this forum...

This is basically a total rewrite from my previous query drafts. I'm not sure if it's closer to where I'm supposed to be or farther away lol. But that's what I'm hoping to find out. The book of Jonah proclaimed that God is in control, and any attempt to sway from God’s divine plan would fail. In Jon...

Congratulations! Nobody can ever tell you that you don't have an imagination haha! Personally I really liked it. Iv often envisioned life a century from now (I'm really guessing on how far in the future ur story is) and I also see a world run by advertisements, promotions, corporations, etc. What I ...

I agree with sanderling. This is your story...you decide how long it should be. Obviously if you're hitting 150,000 then maybe you might want to break it up in two stories, but you shouldn't omit something, or needlessly add anything, just to fit a word count. If the story calls for it...do it! If n...

I think the best advice I ever got was from an old poetry professor I use to have. The advice is so good that it's almost become sort of a mantra when I sit down in front of the computer. She said it to me when she noticed me stressing out on a short story I was working on. The advice is... If you'r...

That sounds like some pretty good advice...although I have no idea where to begin. You said you did it for your novels....if you don't mind me asking...what was the single sentence summary you used and how long did it take you to come up with? Obviously to all, I am very new at this. I'm thankful fo...

all with gun shot wounds to the head. However, the lack of a murder weapon, bullet casings, or any ballistic evidence whatsoever has got him baffled. Wait. I'm no forensics expert, but wouldn't the wounds themselves constitute or contain ballistic evidence. Also, why would the lack of weapon or cas...

WARNING: This excerpt is about 1600 words long. I know I know, that's really pushing the limits for how much I can hold somebody's attention on a forum. But I'm really curious as to how it reads and for any other feedback. I'm very excited about this book...and since these are the crucial opening pa...

Wonderful imagery and great pace. I couldn't stop reading. I'm already curious as to what happens with Teddy!

Lol...writing a query is hard. How do you take something that you have lived and breathed for so long and condense it to less than 350 words while still giving an accurate description of what it's all about to complete strangers? Very tricky indeed... Here's the rewrite...thank you for all your comm...

Thanks everyone for the insight! Ive decided to go along with my original plan and tell the story as accurately as possible to the best of my ability...and hope for the best. I came to the realization that writing is very much art, and art is open to interpretation. As worried as I am that somebody ...