Nathan Bransford - The Forums

What processes do you all use to write your rough draft? My first draft was written longhand, with me nosing my way through the morass of the universe searching for the plot like a mole heaving dirt behind him hoping to come across a worm. That's what happened to my first! I have a huge tupperware ...

I agree with Juice....ask your favorite authors who write like you or search their blogs. I found the names of my two favorite authors' agents on their blogs. And since I'm in the same genre as those two authors, I thought it would be worth a try. Otherwise, the blog idea is good, but also check the...

Another idea would be to search for agents that represent children's fiction and then see if they have a blog. They will most likely cover what they want to see in a query. I don't know if you have visited but AgentQuery is a good place to get an idea of who represents what fiction. I believe you ca...

Quill wrote:I'm almost thinking the last line "When the dust clears..." should have its own paragraph. Being in a different tense, and helping balance the long with the short paragraphs.

I agree. It adds a lovely sense of occasion.... :-)

Jade- I know how you feel. Over the weekend, I started to have some serious doubts about my own writing. Doubts can certainly put a damper on the writing muse. But it sounds like you could benefit from a critique partner. You can bounce stuff off of a partner, send some writing, etc. I think if you ...

Thank you for going through my writing. I really appreciate it. I wonder if it would be best if I started over. Perhaps it would be easier to do what you said and show not tell by writing down the action scenes and then tie it all together so it flows. Would that make sense? Yep, that sounds like a...

I sent a query out recently and got rejections only. I then revised it but am still unsure so I would absolutely love some feedback. Thanks so much. Invasion of the Heart is the title and it is 70,000 complete. All Catriona O’neil wants is to fit in, but she lives the life of a nomad. By the time C...

After hashing this out off the board, I think I've got my final edit. I just thought I would update everyone---you have all been so kind with comments. I certainly appreciate the help! Dear Agent: When her father is murdered by Union soldiers in 1862 Kentucky, nineteen-year-old Julienne Dalton is l...

Jaligard, I actually use the term "war department" in the novel. I guess I was using "Union Secret Service" as a way to not confuse a reader who didn't know the ins and outs of Civil War history. I might end up changing it though, before I send it out. Thanks for your encourageme...

I just had to say 'hello' to a fellow South Carolinian! I live in Columbia too...weird. :-) Good luck with your story--it sounds good. I'm not sure about what your query format should be for a children's book. But I'll take a stab at this. The Husky and The Boy is a beginners children's book with 10...

Hey...you're getting there! Thanks again for all the help. Here's my latest revision. 85-year-old Dara McBride is appalled by the current trend to confess one's indiscretions as publicly as possible. For decades she has kept quiet about her sins of passion, preferring to be seen as a hard woman rat...

This is the first draft of my 853 word synopsis. I use the snowflake method so it'll eventually be my outline. I'm looking forward to all critiques, thank you! Michael Donatello is an ex-mafia contract killer for the Marcuccio crime family who chooses to leave the life after a failed hit cause’s di...

All of my stories (regardless of genre) have some kind of mystery involved, and I like to make sure the plot has no continuity errors before I start writing scenes. I can totally see why you do then. I would completely lose my plot if I had to involve some mystery. But even, my first full-scale nov...

This probably won't help either, but I don't outline. I start writing and as I get a better grasp on my characters, it becomes clearer to me about where I want to take them (or maybe it's where they want to take me.) I think very few people can come up with a truly new plot line. I think even Nathan...

Down the well wrote: I'm the cut and paste queen when it comes to editing. :)

Amen sister! And I've got to organize my files...I have bits and pieces saved, and then multiple edits to the same section of the MS. It's getting very confusing!