Everybody, it seems, wants to write a book: Witness the growth of self-publishing companies catering to those who can't get noticed by major publishing houses.
Hundreds of thousands of manuscripts are rejected by publishers annually -- and most for good reason. "Thanks, But This Isn't For Us: A (Sort of) Compassionate Guide to Why Your Writing is Being Rejected" by Jessica Page Morrell is a guide for those who are determined to succeed against tremendous odds -- less than 1 percent of manuscript submission are accepted.
Even if one has no dreams of getting a book on a best-sellers list, ""Thanks ... " contains some common-sense advice for making one's writing clearer and more concise.
But any guide can only do so much. As it's often said, everybody has a story to tell; not everyone should tell their story.
• Plotting: Don't start with a theme or an archetype. Start with a character reacting to a problem that is propelling his or her life in the wrong direction.
• Characters: Never create characters who are invulnerable to danger. Create characters who make mistakes with fatal consequences. Orchestrate a character's missteps so they're based on his flaws.
• Writing descriptively: Description is sparing but revealing. Description does not equal inventory. It most often is effective at its briefest and cleanest. Spark the reader's imagination, don't provide a portrait.
• Dialogue: Don't think too hard or overanalyze what your characters need to say. Good dialogue comes from our instincts and intimacy with the characters.
• Scenes: If you can remove a scene without changing the outcome, clarity and mood of the story, remove it.
• Conveying emotions: Readers want to see emotions depicted in action and dialogue, but also in subtext: the subterranean river of emotions that exists beneath things. Remember that what is left unsaid ofteis n more potent than what is expressed. That subtext also can create a layer of symbolism and meaning in any story.
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