Take your first page for a test drive in this free workshop! My hope is that the critiques will help you to avoid mistakes that get submissions deleted by agents and that cause readers to put the book down (or click away from the webpage) without buying. Want to know what to expect from the … Continue reading Novel Boot Camp: First Page Critique Workshop

Need help with your novel? Join the fifth annual Novel Boot Camp and whip your story into shape! What is Novel Boot Camp? Novel Boot Camp is a free writing course and workshop for aspiring novelists. You can view the videos by subscribing to my YouTube channel, but if you’d like to participate in the … Continue reading Novel Boot Camp 2018: Update & Schedule

Characters are so important to a strong novel, but editing characters can be tricky. In this video I go over five things to look for to strengthen your characters while editing your novel, including character arcs and personality traits. This is the last video for Novel Boot Camp. I hope you guys had a great … Continue reading How to Edit Your Novel’s Characters [Novel Boot Camp 18]

Working through each scene of your novel (I recommend using an outline to do this) is a great early step in the editing process. It can help you to grasp the necessary large-scale changes and it can help pinpoint where you need to brainstorm new ideas. As always, start with the big picture and then … Continue reading How to Edit Your Novel by Examining the Scenes [Novel Boot Camp 17]

Editing a novel is a daunting process. This is the first of three videos on editing and revision. In this video I go over the two tools I recommend to assist in your editing process: the outline and the revision plan.

This query critique session is part of my Novel Boot Camp series. If you don’t know what Novel Boot Camp is, click here to check it out. If you’ve already submitted your query and didn’t receive a critique or if you would like to now submit your query for critique, I will be posting another … Continue reading 20 Query Critiques [Novel Boot Camp]

Skipping time is often necessary when writing a novel. You might need to convey different stages of your characters’ lives or you might want to jump over the time your character spends in a boring situation. In this video I go over how and why you might need to make minor and major jumps in … Continue reading How & Why to Skip Time in Your Novel [Novel Boot Camp 15]

Scenes that involve the character thinking or talking (reactive scenes) have a tendency to become boring or meandering. In this video I go over how to structure your reactive scenes to keep them engaging.

When we talk about the middle of a novel, it often seems like we’re talking about one continuous lump of time, but the middle of the novel actually has two distinct parts. Understanding and utilizing the differences between these two parts can improve the pacing and help demonstrate your character’s growth.

Novels have a tendency to sag in the middle. After the setup and before the climax, writers often feel as if they’re simply filling up space with incidental conflicts or meandering characters. This is the first of two videos about strengthening the middle of the novel with stronger structure.