Nathan Bransford - The Forums

The Roadrunner and Batman. Kerrash! Biff! They made me what I am. I bet the Acme Corporation in Roadrunner inspired Jeff Bezos to set up Amazon.

Polymath, perhaps theme or message is something best aimed at by aiming at something else. Likewise happiness! Risk beginning the story and let the theme emerge, as if by itself? Don't try to fully answer the questions of theme and message at the start. Let the story answer them. If the resulting me...

Like Holly, I thought of Stephen King's CHRISTINE the moment I read Lunerit's query. But then I wondered if Lunerit was referring to mixing up the POVs in every chapter or page. CHRISTINE has three distinct acts. The first act in the first person POV of one of two young friends, describing their adv...

The PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN logline quoted on QueryTracker mentions Captain Jack Sparrow by name. Likewise the SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE logline. The Twoadverbs article refers only to screenplays. AND our mighty Nathan mentions Jacob Wonderbar in his single sentence pitch! But Wolfe3141 could leave out S...

Hello, Epcaldwell. I was going to procrastinate today, but I put it off until tomorrow.
I do have a suggestion. Paragraphs! Useful, unless your real name is Gabriel Garcia Marques.
Welcome to the Forums!

Steampunk! Yay! Guess what my series is. Dieselpunk really, but close enough.

But is steampunk really ‘next’ or new, apart from the name? Jules Verne? But I suppose the deliberate and self-conscious retroism is the difference. Yesterday’s SF becomes tomorrow’s steampunk/dieselpunk.

Hows about:-
'Homeless rocker girl Sarah runs a gauntlet of drugs, kidnapping, rape and murder to get her next gig and make enough to escape the mean streets and return to high school and a better life.'

Whatever is commonly used is often used loosely. You're probably both right, though you're 60% right and your editor 40%, according to the informal Merriam-Webster poll Holly quoted. So you win! Mira is right too. You'll get complaining e-mails no matter what you do. Today's eggcorn is tomorrow's co...

SUCK FINGER EVERYBODY would be my favorite too, but it might send the wrong message! Beacon22's ideas sound good. How about just HANDS OF THE PAST? Or MILLION MILES AWAY? But BRING ME BACK is not too generic, in my opinion, and what's wrong with sounding like a movie?

I quite like rhetorical questions. But take them out if you query Nathan! Likewise word repetition. Not a problem for me, particularly deliberate echoing, but it drives some people crazy. I agree with other commenters that you should spell out more of what happens. The setup reminds me of the movie ...