Terry Odell's Blog, page 53
June 20, 2021
More Editing
More Editing
The manuscript is with my editor again. Earlier, I sent her the additions she’d asked for regarding tying up one character thread, and she gave her approval. Actually, what she said was,
“This is perfect. Gave me goosebumps. I think this will definitely help with reader satisfaction. Nice job!”
Always good to hear things like that!
I’ve also responded to the comments she left in the manuscript. While I agree with most of them, making suggested changes, there are times when I don’t ...
June 17, 2021
Beyond Edits: Revisions
Beyond Edits: Revisions
Last time, I talked about dealing with your editor’s feedback, and offered a couple of tips and tricks. But once you finish going through the easy and obvious—grammar, typos, punctuation—it’s time to move to the next level. I call this next phase “minor revisions” as I’m making changes a tiny bit more complicated than adding a comma or fixing a typo.
These are the places where my editor has suggested a different word, phrase, line of dialogue, tag, or beat. Note, I say “...
June 15, 2021
Editing Tips and Tricks
Editing Tips and Tricks
My editor sent her feedback on “Trusting Uncertainty” and, needless to say, editing is my top priority. I thought I’d share my process, and maybe some editing tips and tricks along the way. Some of these have been mentioned before, but … I’m editing, and need to spend my time on that.
The writing process goes through countless phases. There’s the initial writing—whether you’re plotting things out in advance, flying by the seat of your pants into the mist, or a combination...
June 13, 2021
How Far Do You Read?
How Far Do You Read?
There was an interesting question over at The Kill Zone Blog on Friday, and I thought I’d ask it here as well. Are you a member of the Clean Plate Club, always finishing everything you start when it comes to reading?
A long time ago, someone proposed this formula: Subtract your age from 100, and that’s how many pages you “owe” an author.
Agents are often asked how much they’ll read in a submission. The general answer seemed to be “Until I stop.” But hooking an agent is one t...
June 10, 2021
Crossing Over in a Crossover
I had an article, Crossing Over in a Crossover, featured in Kings River Life Magazine yesterday, and wanted to share it. Find it here.
Hope you’ll take a minute or two to pop over and read it. Leaving a comment would be nice, too.
Meanwhile, since I’m busy preparing for edits for Trusting Uncertainty, I thought I’d share a few recent pictures, and why I love living up here in the mountains. Feebie seems to like it, too.
Grosbeaks in the tree
Looking Out My Front Door
Sunset from the deck
F...
June 9, 2021
Does the Perfect Word Matter?
As writers, we deal in words. Thousands of words. And we’re always looking for the right word to use. But what happens when the right word is wrong? I’m over at The Kill Zone Blog today, talking about finding the most accurate words and why it might not matter.
Reminder:
For my audiobook listeners: Deadly Secrets and The Mapleton Mystery Novellas are drastically reduced in price at Nook Audiobooks. Drastically, as in $1.99 for Deadly Secrets, and $3.99 for The Mapleton Mystery Novellas.
Now ava...
June 6, 2021
More About Openings
More About Openings
I was rereading the opening chapters of the new book over the weekend (actually, the whole thing so far is opening chapters), and thinking about beginnings. Advice from far more successful authors than I encourage openings where something happens. Dialogue is action. Narration is passive. I posted my draft first page earlier, and I thought I’d done a halfway decent job of making sure there was something going on.
When I looked at the second scene, it was as if I didn’t have t...
June 3, 2021
Look What You Missed
Look What You Missed
Are you a newsletter subscriber? Mine went out yesterday. If you’re not (or if you haven’t opened it, or it’s hiding in your spam folder), here’s what you’re missing:
June 1, 2021
How Do You Start?
How Do You Start?
I’m working on a new Triple-D Ranch book. After staring at a blank screen for a while, it’s time to start writing. How do I do it? Here’s my process.
I start with characters, and for this book, Frank Wembly was an automatic choice, since the other three cowboys had already had their turn.
In a romantic suspense, there has to be a mystery plot, and a romance plot. How much do I know before I start writing?
Very little. The first few chapters are “getting to know you” chapters an...
May 30, 2021
Memorial Day 2021
A quick quiz:
Match the holiday with who we honor. Answers at the end of the post.
1. Memorial DayA. All who have served.2. Veteran’s DayB. Those currently serving.3. Armed Forces DayC. Those who fell in service.
Note that none of these have anything to do with stores having huge discounts on their merchandise.
Answers: : 1 C; 2 A 3 B
The post Memorial Day 2021 appeared first on Terry Odell.
