5 Key Tips to Writing a Stellar Fight Scene (Guest Blog)

Posted on October 14, 2022October 9, 2022 by Judy L Mohr

Without a great fight scene for your action or fantasy or sci-fi novel, does it really fit the mold? The great fight scenes of old have transformed good books into great books: Harry Potter vs. Voldemort (Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire), Paul Atreides vs. Jamis (Dune), etc. There are a lot of great battles to name from all sorts of books from a plethora of genres. But why are they so important?

Great battles can move stories forward, reveal character, and sometimes provide the reader with necessary exposition. Writing fight scenes requires a certain finesse and intentionality. Therefore, think of these five key tips when writing your fights.

Promises to the Reader in the Opening Pages

Posted on June 17, 2022December 7, 2022 by Judy L Mohr

In the beginning sections of a story, the first pages or chapters, the writer gives a promise to the reader about the nature of the story that they are about to read. There will be a hint of the genre, the pacing of the story, what the story is about, and the way the story will be told (the narrative construction). In fact, the reader should be fully aware of the nature of the story they are reading by the time they hit the 25% mark (or thereabouts)—ideally earlier. This doesn't mean that they should know 100% what the twists and turns will be, but they should know what the main story is and what sort of experience to expect.

If your story is going to be a high-octane thriller, then there needs to be action in those early scenes. If you are writing a sweet contemporary romance, then we should have met the main characters in this romantic coupling and already be able to see those sparks between the characters—even if they want to kill each other in the beginning. And if your story is going to contain religious or political overtones, then those overtones need to be present early too.

Today, I want to talk about the promises that we make to the reader with the opening pages of our books. It's the promise of the premise.

11 tips for getting quality editing on a minimal budget

Posted on March 18, 2022December 19, 2022 by Judy L Mohr

Professional editors are expensive. You'll get no arguments from me on that one. Behind the scenes, editors constantly agonize over what rates we should be charging, trying to find the balance between being affordable and actually earning enough to pay our own bills.

And as much as editors try our best to be affordable, more often than not, a writer's budget doesn't extend far enough to make such a venture worth the pennies involved.

Developmental editing (my area of expertise) is the one aspect of editing that seems to suffer the most from this cost dilemma. Under ideal circumstances, every writer heading down publication roads would be able to hire a developmental editor to help them with the story and characterization aspects of their manuscripts, and hire a copyeditor to help with language and the line-level editing. It would be fantastic if every writer could benefit from the professional eye on how the narrative is constructed. But the cost of such a venture doesn't make it practical. So, writers need to think outside the box to find that help with editing.

Today, I want to explore some of the ways that you can edit your manuscripts cheaply without compromising your editing standards.

5 Tips for Self-Editing (by Kristin Noland)

Posted on January 28, 2022December 19, 2022 by Judy L Mohr

Writing takes a community, sharing ideas and supporting one another. So, when we get approached with an article that shares hard-earned knowledge, we couldn't be happier to pass that information.

Today's post is written by Kristin Noland, a fellow editor with her own take on things. Kristin is a developmental and line editor, specializing in speculative fiction, specifically fantasy, paranormal romance, dystopian, and apocalyptic fiction.

So, take it away, Kristin, and let's share some wisdom!

5 Tips for Self-Editing (Guest Blog)

Before we get into how, let’s cover the why you should self-edit.

Competition

If you are going the self-publishing route, your novel will be competing with traditionally published ones that have been through multiple drafts and edits.

If you are planning on using traditional publishing routes, your work will be competing with submissions which have gone through multiple rounds of editing.

Your Readers

You want readers to get pulled into and enjoy the world you have created. To do that, you need to make sure you have a well-written, entertaining, and engaging novel that hits your readers' expectations.

You Become a Better Author

By self-editing, your writing skills will improve.

With the why explained, let’s get into the 5 steps of self-editing.

Writing relies on a reader’s knowledge

Posted on March 12, 2021December 19, 2022 by Judy L Mohr

If you read through various blogs about writing, there is a common theme: Don't treat your readers like they're idiots. This is 100% true, because your readers will have experiences and knowledge that they bring with them, interpreting your stories with that eye. But are you taking full advantage of that preexisting knowledge?

The acclaimed science fiction writer Ray Bradbury wrote many novels and short stories that were printed in the 1950s and 1960s. His readers had survived World War II, bringing with them the knowledge and experiences they had from during the war, including the colloquial terms. Readers of today can still enjoy his stories, but there will be elements we will miss because the subtext is meaningless without the World War II experience.

Today's readers of 2001: A Space Odyssey laugh at how far off-base the predictions regarding space travel and artificial intelligence were. But it was written in 1968, one year before Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed on the moon. Had the space program continued at the rate it was back in the late 1960s, not stopping at the moon, then we would likely already have a colony on Mars today, changing some of the meaning of that book and movie.

While we are hopefully crafting our stories in such a way that they are timeless, there will always be a partial reliance on preexisting knowledge to understand some subtext. It's time to look at how much hidden subtext is buried within your own writing based on the experiences and preexisting knowledge of your current readers.

The Camera of Point of View

Posted on November 20, 2020December 19, 2022 by Judy L Mohr

It's not surprising that a conversation about writing eventually turns to a conversation about point-of-view (POV). Exactly how the narrative shapes the perspective of the story will have a direct impact on the reader's experience.

The POV is not just about understanding which character will act as the narrator. Yes, that's part of it, but the POV also has a depth of perception that defines how much the reader knows about what is going on.

Classifying the POV isn't as straightforward as saying that a passage uses first, second, or third person. It's much more than that.

Today, let's look at an overview of the different narrative POVs that you might find within fiction, include a few examples, and possibly provide some insights into what effect the different POVs might have.

The difference between romance and women’s fiction (Guest Blog from Carron Stevenson)

Posted on November 13, 2020January 29, 2025 by Judy L Mohr

The Spectrum of Genre

Posted on August 14, 2020December 19, 2022 by Judy L Mohr

Whenever I meet a writer for the first time, the conversation often turns to what genre we read and write. Will we be able to find some common ground from which we can build a connection — other than the fact that we're both writers?

When I first started out on my editing career, I would encounter the odd person who insisted that they didn't write a genre. They wrote fiction. To this, I would nod and smile — and gauge whether they would be receptive to a quick education. But now, the writers I encounter seem to understand that fiction is marketed based on genre. It is important for a writer to understand the ins and outs of their specific genre and subgenre. Get it wrong, and the fans of those subgenres will flay you alive.

In today's post, we going to take a quick look at the spectrum of genre.

The difference between a critique partner and a beta reader

Posted on July 31, 2020December 19, 2022 by Judy L Mohr

Getting another set of eyes on that manuscript is vital. Sometimes, we think we wrote something in a certain way, but for whatever reason, what we thought we put on the page isn't what we actually put on the page. Sometimes, we get too close to our stories that we can't see the forest for the trees. Without having that external input, vital issues easily slip through the system.

It can be a costly venture to employ a developmental editor, something that can be beyond the budgets of many writers. But a developmental editor is NOT the only way you can get that vital feedback.

Every writer I know, myself included, uses critique partners and beta readers as part of their editorial process. However, there seems to be some confusion about what these two types of readers do.

It's time to delve into the nitty-gritty as to what makes a critique partner different from a beta reader.

Realistic Character Occupations: U.S. Army Soldier, Patriot Launching Station Enhanced Operator Maintainer (14T)

Posted on July 23, 2020June 24, 2022 by Judy L Mohr

To win readers over, we need to write characters so authentic they feel like real people. How do we do this? By brainstorming a character’s backstory, personality, needs, desires, and their day-to-day world. Lucky for us, one aspect of their daily life is a goldmine of characterization: the type of work they do.

Think about it: a job can reveal personality, skills, beliefs, fears, desires, and more, which is why Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi created The Occupation Thesaurus, a writing guide that profiles 124 possible careers and the story-worthy information that goes with each.

However, there was only so much space for only so many jobs.

Those of us at Black Wolf Editorial enjoy reading stories that have one of the elusive spies, assassins, or military personnel. On that note, we've coordinated efforts with one of our military connections to create this special entry to accompany The Occupation Thesaurus.

Staff Sergeant David Feinstein is a U.S. Army soldier with the unique role of being a Patriot Launching Station Enhanced Operator Maintainer (14T). That job title might be a little convoluted, but here, in a nutshell, are the key things that a writer needs to know.