Understanding the Nature of the Antagonist

When we start the conversation about the protagonist and the antagonist, some writers instantly jump to the conclusion that we are referring to a good-guy-vs-bad-guy story.

One might ask, "What if I don't have a villain in my story?"

My response: "Not all stories have villains. But all stories have characters striving towards a goal of some sort… and there is always something getting in the way."

I dove deeper into this idea in a previous post, highlighting that the role of the antagonist in a story is to get in the way of the protagonist achieving those goals, whatever those goals happen to be. But your protagonist is not necessarily the good guy of the story. And the antagonist is not necessarily another character. The good-guy-vs-bad-guy concept is one of many protagonist/antagonist pairings that might exist.

It's time to take a dive into the different types of antagonists found in stories. And not all of them are characters. We'll be looking at the classic good-guy-vs-bad-guy trope, but we're also going to dive into man-vs-nature and man-vs-self.

While waiting for feedback, LEAVE YOUR MANUSCRIPT ALONE!

The work of a writer is never really done. We are constantly tinkering with that manuscript, because there is always something that could be changed to make it better. But eventually, there comes a point when we have to put that manuscript into the metaphorical drawer and leave it alone.

When that manuscript is in the hands of another person, that's the perfect time to ignore that manuscript. Resist the urge to fix that typo or change that sentence. Just forget about it. Because if you keep tinkering, then the comments that come back might no longer be valid.

But some writers believe they have the perfect solution for this: Just send the editor the latest version. Never might that the editor is now screaming into the void, because everything that they had done up until that point has been made redundant and they have to start over again. But, at least they have the right version now, right?

Excuse me while I sit here with the phone at arm's length as my editing buddies go into a complete meltdown over the situation.

And the fallout is never pretty.

AI-Generated vs AI-Assisted: Where I draw the line

If you aren't sure what I'm talking about when I say ChatGPT… What rock have you been living under?

Writers around the world (novelists, screenwriters, poets, short story writers, etc.) became concerned when ChatGPT exploded onto the scene in late 2022. No one really knew what it could do or how far it would go. And the market became flooded with AI-generated stories—most of which were not worth the 1s and 0s used to create them. But ChatGPT evolved… and so did the concerns.

In 2023, it came to light the copyright nightmare that was ChatGPT, and we're still trying to deal with that as an industry. Amazon added tags to their KDP system, requiring that publishers specify if a body of work was created using artificial intelligence (AI). Lines were being drawn about the ethical usage of the technology, and lawsuits were filed against OpenAI (and other AI developers) regarding their abuse of copyright laws in sourcing the materials used for training of the algorithms.

We are now in 2024, and there is still so much we don't know or can't agree on regarding the usage of AI within publishing. There is only one thing that is certain: AI is here to stay.

As writers and editors, we are now being forced to make decisions about how we will conduct business. It's about drawing a line between AI-generated works and AI-assisted works.

Is it a blurb or a synopsis? (Publishing term explained)

There are some publishing industry terms that are designed to confuse us. It's like the people who created the terms did it deliberately, determined to make all of us scratch our heads and question the sanity of those around us.

Today's term is doubly confusing, because it has different meanings depending on the context.

Blurb and synopsis. Two words that can have the same meaning, but have completely different meanings at the same time. (I did mention how some terms were designed to confuse us, right?)

Let's break this down and define these terms.

Every writer needs to learn to say “No”

Hanging a lantern on it is NOT cheating

For those who don't know, the term hanging a lantern on it refers to when writers deliberately highlight something that is not what readers expect, but it is done in such a way that it's a fleeting moment, asking the reader to accept things the way the writer is presenting it. It's an important tool for any fiction writing that deviates from "normal" society.

But there are some writers who believe that hanging a lantern on it is cheating, but it's not. It's asking your reader to trust you and accept the world that you are presenting, asking them to put aside their preconceived ideas and beliefs long enough to enjoy the ride.

In today's post, I want to explore why hanging a lantern on it is an important device to have in your toolbox and how it can actually save a story from the fires of reader criticism.

Too many short sentences make a scene feel stilted

When I was still new to writing, someone told me that to write a good action sequence you had to use a lot of short sentences. The idea was that short sentences were straight to the point and didn't give you a chance to add fluffy stuff. When I was told this advice, I was told that the short sentences would speed things up. Now that I'm more experienced, I know that this was bad advice and fundamentally not true.

Short sentences can be a great device to add emphasis, which is why this misconception exists. When used wisely, the short sentence can create urgency within your storytelling. However, too many short sentences in quick succession will create a stilted feeling in the narrative that is disjointed and slow to read. It can even make things confusing.

In today's post, we're going to discuss the true nature of using short sentences in action sequences.

You don’t have to use an editor’s proposed solution.

The job of a developmental editor is to highlight areas within a manuscript that are problematic and provide possible solutions on how to fix those problems. However, it's the writer's job to fix those identified problems in a way that works for the story and holds true to the writer's vision for that story.

That doesn't mean that the writer is supposed to just bow down and do exactly what the editor tells them to do. The editor could be wrong. But it's up to the writer to make that choice.

In today's post, I want to talk about my own experiences of working with editors on my own manuscripts and how I, as a writer, had to make the choice to tell my editor "no" to his solution and do it my own way.

5 ways to drive your editor batty

Every editor has a few pet peeves, things that irritate them when they see them. But we editors suffer in silence, correcting those issues and moving on to the next page of the manuscript. But there are editors like me who happily turn those pet peeves into blog posts, showing the world how irritating they can be.

Today's post dives into some of the things that writers do that can drive an editor to the coo-coo train.

(Now, watch, some of my writing buddies will turn this into a challenge to see if they can work all of these things into their next writing piece that they share with me.)

4 signs you have finished editing your manuscript

Years ago, I was at a writing group when a newer writer asked a loaded question:

"When do you know you have finished editing a manuscript?"

Without hesitation, one of my writing buddies, JC Harroway, blurted out, "When someone takes it away from you." Of course, the room burst out laughing, but JC was serious. She is a dreadful tinkerer, never happy with what she has written and constantly obsessing over it. But she is a writer with publication deadlines, and when those deadlines arrive, she has no choice but to hand over that manuscript to the editor or it won't get published.

But when you look at the original question with seriousness, there are multiple aspects to consider. Not only do you have those who constantly obsess over every little detail, but the editing question goes the other way, too. You also have those who think they have finished editing but in reality still have work to do to ensure that the story they envision is what is on the page.

In today's post, I want to discuss some of the benchmark tests you can use to determine if you have finished editing a manuscript.