Nathan Bransford - The Forums

I think that the story will take as many words as it needs to be written. That said, my story used to be 116k and halfway through this fourth edit it now stands at 102k. A lot of what I cut was filler. I didn't realize it was filler at the time, but filler it was. In my case there was too much back ...

Hi, guys! It's almost query-time for me, so I thought I'd run this past you :). There is a lot of great advice on these forums. Please feel free to be brutally honest, and thanks in advance for your help! _____ Dear (Peronalized Agent Name), I’m seeing representation for my 87,000 word fantasy nove...

Dear Great and Noble Agent of Oz, Azomyn Jakorus is a young Bryzintan , I liked it better when you didn't name the species. Too many strange new words confuse me, but then I'm easily confused... an immortal race which lives secretly among humans. This is a cool idea... like Highlander? One day he i...

Being Human has some very beautifully written thoughts about love, loss, and life. Originally I tried watching it for the monster effects, but was caught up by how relatable the characters were (crazy when they are ghosts, werewolves, and vampires... I know) and how honestly they portray the light a...

Gosh this looks so fun but I am soo bad at this! Can you guys help me out? I really would love to have actors I can relate my characters to but I can't seem to come up with any for mine! :( My MC has straight longish black, he is 19 and has fairly proportional and good looking facial features. He h...

I think the strategy of the second query is better, but the hook in the first one is better. Maybe if you went with the second query but started off with something about Christian's being wounded in battle right off the bat. To me that's the most compelling part. When Christian Bryson is wounded in ...

Not only do I love to listen to music while I write (to get in the right mood), but all of my characters have theme songs. Not quite all my characters, but more like mood music for certain kinds of scenes. For example: suspense... lind, nilsen, fuentes, and holm's cover of u2's with or without you ...

Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere
... loving it. Had to put it down to eat, though. Croup and Vandemar can get sort of gruesome.

My little boys want to be rock stars when they grow up. The name I suggested for their band: Scarlet Fever (two out of three got it at the same time.)

I think reluctantly is good.

Christian crushes her world by informing her that he is deploying for war. Consequently I would just take this word out, it feels like a cold, technical word that doesn't fit with the sensitive nature of your query , Abigail reluctantly ... After Drew finishes his story, he is unsure if Nicole can f...

when i first saw all the red, i nearly had a heart attack, lol. thanks for the insight! i hope this works a little better. remarkably, it's not as long as it looks, though the way it's broken up makes it seem longer. at least that's my theory, and i'm stickin' to it :-D Dear Agent: After waking up ...

Dear Agent, When Nicole Kuefler’s seemingly indelible faith crumbles after her miscarriage, she falls into an agonizing conflict against God. Concerned for his wife, Nicole’s husband Drew gathers his family around the Christmas tree to weave a story about God and His so-called providence. This is t...

Dear Agent, When Nicole Kuefler’s seemingly indelible take these words out? faith crumbles after her unexpected (delete all miscarriages are unexpected miscarriage, an agonizing conflict against... maybe "she begins to question" God and His so-called providence ensues. Unfortunately, Nico...

As I've been editing, I've realized that I suffer from adjective bulimia. I gorge on everything that looks good. The manuscript gets bloated. So, I throw it all out (up?), and the manuscript feels empty. Then, those adjectives get to looking really tasty again... Results: malnourished manuscript and...