THE EDITOR’S BLOG
Learn to edit your novel
with expert articles, audio guides, worksheets, and free resources.
Scene Workshop: Hook Your Readers in Chapter One with Cathryn deVries
You get one shot to grab your readers’ attention. Don’t waste it with characters staring off into space.
The Unskippable Process to Create Unputdownable Books
It isn’t popular. We try to find so many ways around it. But if you want to craft your very best stories, it’s essential.
How to Edit Your Novel When Disaster Strikes
Sometimes, your editing—and your life—is interrupted by an emergency. Here are five things to do (and not do) in your editing when you’re in crisis mode.
How Taylor Jenkins Reid Crafts an Exceptional Opening Scene
Want to master writing excellent scenes? Study excellent scenes to find out how they work. Here’s what makes the opening scene of The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo stand out—and how you can draw inspiration from it to craft an exceptional scene of your own.
2 “Showing” and “Telling” Ways to Convey Time Passing in Your Novel
Your characters feel time passing in your story. But your readers won’t—unless you tell them how much time is passing and show them why that matters. Use these techniques that blend telling and showing to make time matter to your readers the way it does to your characters.
3 “Telling” Ways to Convey Time Passing in Your Novel
The passage of time seems intuitive. It just happens, right? But in reality, unless you tell your readers how time is passing in your novel, they won’t know. Use these techniques to keep your readers grounded in your story so they know exactly when everything happens.
Why You Must Show Time Passing in Your Novel
In your story, YOU are responsible for making time pass. Here’s why time matters—and what happens if you forget to include it in your novel.
When Should You Practice, and When Should You Publish?
Writing is a skill, and there’s always more to learn. Here’s how to decide whether to focus on practicing new writing skills or publishing using the skills you’ve already developed.
You Can’t Skip Learning How to Write a Novel. Here’s Why
We’d all like to write amazing novels right off the bat. But great storytelling is a skill. And in order to use a skill, first you have to learn a skill. Here’s what it looks like to learn to write great novels—and how to tell when you’ve mastered the skill.