Dwayne’s Comments (group member since Apr 01, 2017)

Dwayne’s comments from the Support for Indie Authors group.

This is one of those many topics that will boil down to you. You can show your work to readers and get some feedback. You can study works in your genre that are similar to what you're doing. Bottom line, it's up to you as to where you put the balance between action and description.

I like to add a good deal of description to my work as everything in the story can add to the flavor of the story. The weather, the sounds, the smells, the landscape, the interiors of buildings, vehicles, tools, etc. can all be used to develop a full picture. I try to zip back and forth between descriptions, action, and dialogue, never lingering on any of them for too long. I don't write fantasy (yet). I write general fiction. Yet, I have read some fantasy that is the same pace I try for.

Dale wrote: "That said, as a reader, I hate when a writer..."

Again, let's focus on our own work and what we do. This is not the forum to complain about what other writers do. As writers we need to understand that we're not all going to write the same. Another writer may not write the way you do, but his or her readers just might like the way he or she does things. We're here to support, not to criticize.

C.B. wrote: "Also, you get tired while editing and the later the chapter, the more it can suffer."

I'm not sure this is true of me. I will say I go through something similar. I know that as I go through the book in order, the further into I get, the more anxious I am to be finished with that pass and get to the next.

I'm nearly halfway done with this pass and as it turns out about two-thirds of the chapters I've done have been ones that appear later in the book. It also turns out those are the ones I'm finding in the worst shape and need the most tuning. So, I can definitely see a benefit to your backward method.

Lionelson wrote: "What should I do? Should I add a few "filler" chapters or should I just leave it as it is?"

Let it be a novella.

Felix wrote: ""another"!"

Please don't point out typos others have made. It's petty. Remain positive.

As per the rules of the promotional resources folder...

Posts may only be started by an SIA Moderator. Member-initiated posts will be deleted.

You are not a moderator.

Post deleted.

Please familiarize yourself with the rules before posting. Thanks.

Please send a message to A. as she requested. There is no need to bookwhack or post links in this thread.

Yeah, I found the same thing. See if you can combine them. If not, it might be good to contact a librarian about it. I don't believe you can delete them on your own.

India wrote: "I'm going to add this as an edit pass on my next project :) Thanks, Dwayne. I can see how this would tighten up the A to Bs within the A to Z (if that makes sense)."

Yes! That actually puts it better than I did. I fear that as long as this book is, if chapters are not strong at the beginning or fizzle at the end, readers will give up. I want each chapter to pulse at both ends with no deep valleys in the middle of them.

Aaron wrote: "140 chapters, though? Is this book really large? Or are the chapters really short? "

Yes. And yes. The book is a bit over 300K right now. Some of the chapters are less than half a page, some stretch to about ten pages.

Pamela wrote: "A question for you, Dwayne. Will it cause your chapters to become disjointed?"

I will make at least two more passes and will likely have some betas read it over again before publishing. That should ensure that everything still makes sense once I put it all together. I'm not making any grand changes to the major plot lines, I'm only looking at the subplots and smaller scenes that may or may be too distracting in the book.

S.T. wrote: "I don't think it is laziness as much as losing the flow and real idea of the book."

This isn't my last round of edits. It's the ninth of a planned twelve(+). So, on the next round when the book is reassembled, I'll be looking at the overall flow again.

Alex wrote: "I don't like the idea of the time it will take to chop the book up and rearrange the chapters. "

It takes almost no time at all, if you've highlighted your chapter titles you'll see a list of them off to the left (on Word Starter 2010, anyway - I'm guessing other programs work similar). All you need to do is move the chapter titles up and down the menu and it will scramble them in your document.

Garrett wrote: "Hello moderators,"

Your first question was answered elsewhere. When you edit your book's info on Goodreads, simply upload the image of the cover.

As for links not working, that's something you'll need to ask Goodreads about directly.

What Camille said.

Also, this folder is for feedback on covers, not for general help with Goodreads. Since your question has been answered, I'm closing the topic. (Also removed the link to your book - which we call a bookwhack).

Hey guys,

I found a fun technique for editing that seems to be working well for me and I thought I'd share it.* My work in progress has 140 chapters, more or less. This round through it, I've scrambled the chapters up and given them generic names so I do not know what chapter I'm about to work next. It's got me darting all over the book and it's been a blast.

The benefit? I'm seeing each chapter individually instead of as a piece of a greater puzzle. It's helping me focus on making sure each chapter has a strong beginning and ending and also helps me see if the chapter is necessary or if it's truly just fluff.

*I now await a flood of comments stating that this is not a new idea, everyone is already doing it and I must be a schmuck and a novice for thinking this is worth sharing.

Genevieve wrote: "What is the JROTC?"

Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps. It's a real organization, not exclusive to Tonya's books. You do have a point that not everyone knows this acronym.

Before the words you want to italicize, type < i > (without the spaces) and after the words type < / i > without the spaces. If you click the link that says (some html is okay) just above the text box you type in, it will give you more html tricks you can use.

What R. said. It's making me want to revisit a few covers. I often times try to make them stark with eye-catching colors so they'll stand out. I do have a few paranormal short stories I've always felt should be selling better. Perhaps I'll change a couple of the covers and see if I get some results.

Ian wrote: "I have exactly the same feelings as expressed in the last two sentences of your post."

Yep. I see other authors finding success at building an audience, at least more than I've found. Often times it is due to them having a lot of time to market or having money to spend on web sites. They have time to blog, make video, whatever it takes. At this point in time, I don't have those luxuries.