One thing I think most of us writers aspire to is being able to surprise our readers. After all, if the reader knows from page one what the outcome will be — boy gets the girl and they live happily ever after — that doesn’t make for a terribly interesting or suspenseful book. On the other hand, I believe we owe it to our readers to not blindside them. What I mean by that is throwing in a curve ball that has no relation to anything else in the book. Somewhere in there is a happy medium where the reader can be surprised, shocked, maybe delighted by the twists in the plot, but when they think back, they can see the germination of that plot twist. It was there all the time, just under the radar. It fits and it makes sense.
I’ve noticed there are two ways to do this. Continue reading “Writing Sleight of Hand”
Beta read, proof-read, copy edit, line edit, stylistic edit, substantive edit, aunt Mary’s read-through: you name it. Ask just about anybody what the different types of editors are called, and they’ll give you a different answer. And why should we care? We can’t afford them anyway.
Are you tired of hearing the same people tell you the same things about what you need to do to publish your books and connect with readers? Me too. Recently I walked the periphery of Indie Land and spoke to some of the authors on the outside. You know – the ones who sell more than a modest amount of books and cross the line from time to time. The ones who know that all the information we receive about professionalism and product and content are common sense. The ones who will threaten to smack you if you suggest one more time that it all starts by writing a book that readers want to read. We know that already. Here’s some wisdom those fringers have asked me to pass along to you.