Tips & WIPs

I admit it… I picked up Thanks, But This Isn’t For Us: A (Sort Of) Compassionate Guide to Why Your Writing is Being Rejected, by Jessica Page Morrell, based on its awesome title and its clever cover. In case you can’t see it in the image, the cover looks like the first page of a manuscript, complete with coffee ring stain and corrected formatting errors.

The author is a freelance editor who specializes in helping authors polish their fiction and memoirs to perfection. She’s read every possible mistake an author can write, and in penning this book, she’s hoping she can help other writers avoid the most obvious of mistakes (and make her job easier, no doubt).

Although there was nothing earth-shattering here for a published author, it’s a wonderful reference guide for new writers. Here are some of my favorite quotes, so you can see what I mean:

Scenes expose your characters at their most vulnerable and often portray life-changing moments. (pg. 208)

Sometimes you might not fully understand what a scene’s “job” is in the story until you actually write it. Then you can edit and trim anything that confuses the reader and add elements to highlight that scene’s particular role in enhancing the whole story. (pg. 209)

The writer’s main responsibilities are to write a thick, juicy steak of a story, and make readers care, that is, bring us to tears or outrage or heart-thumping worry. (pg. 229)

If you’re writing fiction, be patient with the process. As in real life, it takes time to get to know a person and understand his emotional core. (pg.248)

Research is the most overlooked facet of writing a successful manuscript. Solid research creates genuine description and a credible story situation. (pg. 294)

What do you think of those quotes? Did any of them resonate with you?