"I'm about to go on sub," I used to say to friends. "What's that?" said my friends. "It means my agent is submitting my manuscript to editors." "Oh!" "Or you could say, my manuscript is on submission to editors." "Ah!" Pause. "So good luck! How long does … [Read more...] about 5 Questions to Ask Your Author Friend on Sub
fiction
Revision Is Like a Cat
I don't want you to stress about revision. I don't want you to because I already do, and it's way too much for anyone's good. You can come up with all the formulas and processes and formalities you like (and trust me, I've got a pile of Lyn's Rules for Revision, and … [Read more...] about Revision Is Like a Cat
Seven Ways to Wrangle Your Back Story
If you're like me, you just lo-o-o-ve telling the tale before the story begins. That's because you care so much about your characters and you can envision where they were when they were three, and you know the whole cast of characters surrounding them at key moments in their … [Read more...] about Seven Ways to Wrangle Your Back Story
Six Tips for Chapter One Success
How do you make sure people—readers, agents, editors—keep reading Chapter One of your Great American Novel? How do we get them to Chapter Two? After publishing three works of fiction and after writing (and discarding) several novels, I've figured out how to crack the code of … [Read more...] about Six Tips for Chapter One Success