Nathan Bransford - The Forums

LOL. Thanks, thewhipslip! My eyes were starting to cross from rewriting this. As for a crit partner - I'm actually doing one right now w/ someone (don't think I can handle two at once and do a good job), but if you're still looking for one around the end of September let me know! Just send me a PM. ...

REVISION #? - FEEDBACK APPRECIATED! Dear XXX, Everywhere Tizzy Banks goes, she bumps into something straight out of a fairy tale or a nightmare. From a werewolf with a thing for soccer to a leprechaun that slings coffee at a local pub, her new town is so high on the creep-o-meter scale that it need...

Amazon has a pretty cool feature in their MP3 section. If you buy a couple of songs (and possibly just browse - not sure on that though), it starts giving you suggestions based on the type of music you've downloaded. Usually other groups that are either similar in sound/style, or groups that other u...

I look at it this way - if the book I write is the only one I get published, do I want to leave my readers hanging (and angry at me) by saying "To Be Continued?" The Lord of the Rings trilogy works with the unresolved main quest over multiple books simply because all of the books exist. Im...

I think it depends on the writer. Some need to have detailed outlines of their story and worlds fully built before diving in. Some fly by the seat of their pants, starting with just an image of a character or a vision of a particular scene. I admit I've done both in my life, but for my novel I start...

I think my favorite part is when I'm stuck on something, or missing one little thing to make it all work, and finally figure it out. Having that one teeny tiny thought that makes me go, "holy crap, there is it," especially when it's a completely random and non-writing related observation t...

I have a very hard time accepting this percentage, since every other agent blog I've ever read has said something completely different. At a 75% rate you know two things: 1. You've got a perfect book in the perfect genre at the perfect time for the market, and 2. Your query letter is a work of art w...

JD - I know what you mean about poor Odd. The other books are worth it though. Not that they don't break your heart, too -- he tortures the poor guy. But there's something about watching him make his way through all the garbage, and still remain somewhat pure, that gets you. Just don't think you'll ...

Here's my revised version, everyone. Any feedback on whether I got it closer would be greatly appreciated! Dear Querymonsters, Everywhere Tizzy Banks goes, she bumps into something straight out of a fairy tale or a nightmare. From a werewolf following her around like a pet dog, to a chess-playing dr...

To everyone asking about the Stephen King quote, my understanding (from reading it in context, and yes, it's from "On Writing.") is that the first draft is for yourself. You write it for you and you only, and forget writing for the reader. It's only on the later drafts that you should brin...

Don't feel bad. Getting published is tough. It took Jim Butcher about two years to land an agent for his first Dresden novel, after getting rejected by all the publishing houses. He didn't get an offer off a query, either. He ended up meeting his first agent at a writer's conference, and convinced t...

Okay - here are my thoughts. Since it's a first draft I won't point out a lot of detail stuff on punctuation, etc. You'll pick that up on your own. Just some general impressions and observations. Cool scene overall. I have two suggestions, though. One,the switching of POVs from the reverend to the a...

I second Meredith's comments. I also think that you could use a few more commas to make the sentences easier to read (some are quite long and while they make sense, they're a mouthful). A few examples of where they might help: The Chaos Lord’s war against the Ancients ended in betrayal , and <--remo...

Wow. Pong and D&D. Suddenly I don't feel so old. I had the TV console Pong. Ah, the hours spent turning a dial listening to "boop, bwop, boop, beep..." Then Nintendo came out with Frogger, and I met my nemisis. Never could get that stupid green blob across the road. Won't fess up to my...

I'm similar to Sommer in some ways. My first draft (90k words) took about 3.5 months. Then I basically rewrote 90% of it with draft two (we're talking MAJOR changes to plot and characters. And adding a new main character and then weaving in his storyline). That was another few months. And so on, unt...