this is helpful thanks

Thanks for the shout-out Jonathan! It's always a blast working with you. If memory serves, you did get an offer of representation by an agent or two but decided to pass when D&OB was interested without an agent. have I got that wrong?

Dan, I am very glad to have been introduced to you, even though it was only by Facebook.

Can someone name one good character driven story? Like iconic. As iconic as Star Wars or Harry Potter

or, you can ask a few trusted friends who are honest, avid readers to proofread it...then re-ready it a dozen times instead of just 3 times

Couldn't agree more. Hear, hear.

What’s up with the welders goggles ???

Who is she again?

A liver transplant surgeon and a pediatric nephrologist have asked me to write my 35 years as mom/advocate of 3 kids now grown. 6 kidney transplants between them, one now needs a kidney & liver. I know history, pioneers in many respects. I'm going to try to write.

Thanks, I think it was helpful

I like what was said but feel a better way of saying it is: talent is equally distributed around the world, but opportunity is not. I am sure there is a boy in Kenya who can write better than I can, but will be undiscovered because of challenges in his life. But the opposite may be true as well. A woman of fiscal wealth may be published because her husband knows a man in the publishing world and gets her book published who outright sucks.

You told us what a "good story" IS, and you told us what a "great story" SHOULD be, but you never actually explained what a "great story" IS other than some vague hits on literary writers that reads like heady hyperbole. Specificity and examples would have worked best.

Watching someone cope with lack of skill

Dear sir, good evening. I am a science thriller novelist. I have written a fantastic science thriller documentary script. Please contact, dmm

Interesting comments. Thank you. Tip four (?) is called 'show, don't tell'. It is always better to do this if you can, though it often uses more words to achieve it. These tips are valid for the great majority of novels, though if you're producing some thing like W. G. Sebald's The Rings of Saturn you may be guided by other principles.

The majority of publishers are Left-collective fascists rejecting anything that does not tick politically correct boxes,resulting in banal pap, usually by women.

Woah he is well spoken

😌 'Promo SM'

Superb content. Many Thanks

I really like your low-key brilliance.

Call a spade a spade.. just say ".if u have a criminal record" lol

She’s a great writer

well??? - DID the sheriff kill her???

This video is so helpful. I am working on my second novel and will be IMMEDIATELY implementing this advice. Thank you

Thanks for the info.Question. How do you suggest querying a library to order my self-published book? Should I send an email with a sales sheet attachment?

Why can’t you have great character and plot.x

Wow, great advice. I really hate editing my work, but with this streamlined process it seems less daunting.

Thank you for sharing, really interesting.

Awesome

Really interesting

Thank you for basic guidance for character development.

Every chapter i write in my manuscript looks like a long draft and im upset because the novel I want to publish have such an original story.

Thanks for your input, very helpful. Chun Author WHEN WILL THE SUN SET IN AFRICA?

Very good

Hmm, I have a question. I'm a tarot reader and have a professional name in that space that I use for my clients, youtube and blog for my business. Right now, I'm getting into copywriting as a day job, but I also want to write blogs in the spiritual/occult space professionally. So, I wonder if it's best to use my tarot name or my real name?

Thanks Laurel I learned some great stuff

This is such great advice. Thank you!

🎉🎉

Short and sweet -EXTREMELY HELPFUL. Thank you.

Excellent explanation. I got bored of reading long ago, and just now realized I don't like boring char driven crap. Gimme a plot driven.

These are wonderful! Thanks for posting.

I recently read this book. It was the only adventure book on the particular library shelf. I was impressed. I must say this self-rescue was beyond words. But...what also stuck in my mind was the rescue of Shaheen Baig by Nadir Ali, the cook and gofer/occasional high altitude porter. That was also solo, unsupported [except by the medical instructions (and injectibles) by Eric Meyer from Camp 2]. I would really like an epilogue. Thank you.

She’s certainly written on some fascinating topics, but compared to Sam Kean, Carl Zimmer, Phillip Ball, Mary Roach, and many others, her writing is DRY and DULL, NOT PULITZER QUALITY, occasionally incorrect, and inappropriately dispassionate in an effort to appear in a naively hopeful middle state. Here, it seems she overlooks the unimaginable suffering of sentient animals and colossal arrogance of human exceptionalism and ideas of superiority, the frequent lack of necessity or benefit of cruel research. The only scenario that could possibly enlightens these folks is for them to become subjects of similar research, finding themselves strapped to a table, instruments out, no possibility of escape, held for torture re-branded as “research” by creatures intellectually superior, but morally bereft, extremely fcked-up.

flagging things you like in your manuscript is such a good idea, i'm so glad it was shared here. i've never thought to do this before

Great KZbin explaining Author Learning Solutions and Westbow Press.

Nice to hear proper advice from someone with experience, rather than young wannabe youtube writers.

Wow! This is an insightful conversation.

Hello from the UK. 😃 My Great Grandfather was a Eurasian.♥️ I am so proud of my mixed blood. He is in a book called 'On Parade' which was printed in Singapore. I would love to work with Singapore authors and editors. I have cracked the code on Dyslexia. Linkedin Business celebrates Dyslexic Thinking as a important SKILL needed in the work place. My daughter could hardly read, write or spell in school. I used Art and Music to make reading fun and not stressful. My Dyslexic mind helped me help my daughter remember the words she could not read. I am a team player. ♥️ Melody passed her English Exam this year. Rare for a Dyslexic. If our British Education System allowed students to write a story for their English Exam she would have received a A+. Dyslexics are clever Storytellers. Perhaps Singapore would grade her on her stories, and song lyrics. ♥️ Famous British Jamie Oliver has created a children's book. He needed help to write it. I was taught ITA English Twaddle in school. It's amazing I can spell. However, I was very lucky because I was given opportunities with not one qualification to my name. I worked my way up from Receptionist to Managing Directors Secretary for a top London Architectural company. My spelling improved over years from typing so many letters. Repeat, repeat, repeat. I feel my techniques would help children all over the world who struggle to read, or just hate reading like my daughter did. She now has a Library of books in her room. I'm proud beyond words because I don't read books, but I love to write. Happy Christmas ⛄🎁 everyone. And may our children live a happy life knowing they are all good at something. 😆😃😀

This is the continuing pulp fiction vs "literature" argument. Peanuts vs Caviar. A lot more peanuts are sold that caviar. Pulp writers are "real novelists" as are writers of "literature." Note that this guy calls good stories "schlock" and he calls the other novels "serious literature." Lester Dent (Kenneth Robeson, author of the Doc Savage series) wrote 181 novels which were good stories vs. Harper Lee who wrote one great novel and 1 good story (or Emily Bronte who wrote one great novel). Both kinds of writing can be enjoyed by readers, but the two types of books serve a different purpose. Think of it this way: Books are tools, and different books are designed to do different things (it is more difficult for people to realize this because all books look 'basically' alike from the outside, whereas hand tools are shaped differently depending on what they are designed to do and look much different from one another). So, ....Is a screwdriver a better tool than a saw? Is a hammer a better tool than a tape measure? Well, a screwdriver is better at setting screws into wood, but you can use the handle to pound a nail into a board, though not with ease; a hammer will serve you better than a screwdriver for pounding nails into boards. Therefore, if you have a plane trip coming up and you want some light reading, say a good 'page turner' of a story to while away the time, A Doc Savage novel will do a better job at that task than Crime and Punishment (just as a hammer is better for pounding nails than a screwdriver). But if you want to enjoy an in depth psychological character study, then Crime and Punishment will serve you better than, say "Doc Savage, Man of Bronze." Crime and Punishment is a tool designed for a different task than is a Doc Savage novel.

Where can we find reputable writing coaches?