Nathan Bransford - The Forums

It would seem to me that following a particular agent's guidelines when submitting is like passing the first test of the initiation rites. If you don't get that right, there doesn't seem to be much chance of going on to the next circle. While I believe that following some of the guidelines is just a...

Geez, I feel like some kind of geezer here amngst all of you young whippersnappers. I'm a youngish 51 and I was the guy in high school English class that everyone hated because I could do a 2K word story in study hall and still have goof-off time left over. I took a long break from fiction, but cont...

I think it is critically important to draw a reader in on that first page or two. How many times have you been in a bookstore or library and watched someone flip open a book, read a bit, and return the book to the shelf without turning to the next page? Nathan asks for the first five pages with a su...

Hello, Nathan, and welcome back from your conference in Mexico! My question regards finding an agent, but for different purposes. Let's say, for example, that a responsible, well established organization wanted to invite you to participate in their conference. There would be the panel discussions an...

Adverbs burned my farm, ran off my family, and raped my cattle, and they'll do the same to you given half a chance.

christi, I saw that too. The timing is perfect for me, but by the time she gets to mine how many will she have looked at already? And maybe she just got back from lunch so she's just a little bit tired and groggy and just kind of hits the DELETE key out of the monotony of it all. I'll tell you what,...

E McD wrote:R Louis Scott,

You're awesome, dude. Always friendly, always helpful.

Hugs, Em

I'm blushing here. Do you see me blushing? Well, I am :)

miahayson wrote:Funnily enough, nobody ever says "Auch aye the noo" though

Funnily enough, I say that all the time.

There are some practical considerations to this to think about. What if you have a very common name? If someone runs a google search on you, what will they find by that name? Would a variation of that name give a smaller result? That's my situation. My first name is Richard, and Richard Scott yields...

Hi Craig, I'm not the most prolific of posters here, but I have come to know one or two people and found that, overall, this is a great resource for aspiring writers, of which I am one. I spent 20 years in the US Navy and transferred to the Fleet Reserve with the rank of Chief Petty Officer. I now w...

I left the Roman road while the sun was still low in the east and warming my back.


OK, so far no one has made me put their book back on the shelf and move on. I think it is kind of hard to give a 1 out of 10 rating to a single sentence, but so far shadow's is my favorite.

I have written zero this week as far as story goes.

My synopsis, on the other hand, has been printed out three times just so I can crumple it up and throw it in the trash.

Holly wrote: Oh, the literary gods are just like you and me, fat people eating potato chips at their desks in Manhattan while they look at Nathan's forum.

Just take that freaking manuscript and mail it!

Whoa! Who you callin' fat, girl? Chunky maybe but in no way fat!

I certainly understand the difficulties involved with "meatworld" groups. I have never actually been formally and directly asked to leave a group, but hey, I'm a sensitive guy, I can take a hint. I'm not one of those people that feels I must suffer for my art in some way. If I didn't enjoy...

R Louis Scott: I laughed out loud when I read: “I hear that J.K. Rowling has added several rooms to her house to hold the stacks of money, and really, this isn't something you want to play catch-up on.” No, one doesn’t want to get behind on counting all their money, do we? Good luck! Happy procrast...

Emily, I think some of the hardest writing I've had to do was when I knew exactly how it was supposed to happen. It just seemed more like work to get it all down on paper. I keep one document in each WIP folder called the Sandbox. It's a place to see what characters might do in situations that aren'...