The Writers Literary 
& Publishing Services Company

New Author Coaching Service (NACS)

The New Author Coaching  Service

After numerous requests from our clients for more one-on-one time with an editor to understand the intricacies of how to devise a well-crafted manuscript, Writers Literary is proud to offer you an opportunity to collaborate with an editor through our New Author Coaching Service (NACS). Writers Literary offers these coaching services in 3-hour blocks of time to consult with an editor either by email or over the telephone. Whether you're a novice or a seasoned veteran, we want to empower you as an author on the path to success.

A coach will help you with the elements needed to strengthen the initial draft of your manuscript.  Your assigned editor will explore all areas of your manuscript's strengths and weaknesses (plot, structure, character development, dialogue, point of view, scene and setting, etc.), focusing on concerns, strategies, and presenting new ideas to address your rewrite. The consultations you have with your editor are client specific, geared toward your manuscript’s needs and deficiencies and to help the author understand how to apply principles of writing to make his or her manuscript a page-turner.

NACS  Examples:

Example 1 -- NACS Initial Assessment

FROM THE AUTHOR:

Hi Vicki-

Thank you for the critique which was done in 2 parts-- the first part was for the first 5 chapters and the second part was for the synopsis.  My remarks follow:

Part 1:

I appreciate the critic's comment that the story has all of the necessary elements; it would have been nice if he added a sentence or so saying why, i.e., why did he think there was good characterization, what made the settings interesting, etc.

I'd like to know what the critic used as reference in italicizing Modern Woman.  According to the Chicago Manual of Style proofreading marks, words that need to be in italics in print should be underlined in the manuscript, which I did. Maybe I'm missing something?

Did the critic read the prologue?  He suggested that I rewrite the opening paragraph to hook the reader, but the paragraph he referred to was the first paragraph of the first chapter.  The "opening" was the prologue, where the hook was.

Part 2:

Other than making punctuation edits and saying that the synopsis has substance but is too long, the critic had no specific comment at all!

Believe me, I'm very open to constructive suggestions, as I have mentioned in my earlier e-mails.  If I have to rewrite a whole chapter, I will, if I see that a suggestion will help the story. 

I'll go ahead and discuss this with my agent and see what she says.

Thanks for your help,

E

FROM THE COACH:

Good morning, E --

I agree with your analysis of the critique provided for you, for the most part. In regards to the synopsis I agree with the critic, it needs some minor editing and it's too long. There isn't a whole lot more to say because, frankly, you're not making a lot of mistakes.

The publishing world is in revolution with the advent of desktop publishing and the Information Age. There  is some confusion within the industry regarding form and function when it comes to manuscripts. When the translation from manuscript to printed page was a human process it was advised to underline copy to be italicized because it was visually easier for the typesetter to deal with. Today, computers are doing the transfer process and underlined type on the manuscript becomes underlined type on the "gallies".

In regard to your prologue, it sets up the conflict but perhaps a bit dryly for a romance novel. I can't say that it hooked me, but it didn't deter me either.

Then you're off to a wobbly start with chapter 1 as you try too hard to "paint a picture" and the point of view flickers. My suggestion, stay firmly in Celyna's point of view and eliminate the narrator's. Celyna cannot see her almond-shaped eyes, her petite frame -- and the cool breeze caressing her straight chestnut hair, well... it's just too much, too soon,  it comes off as gratuitous description. Stay with her emotions and setting up the conflict. Leave the revelation of her physical appearance for David. 

Once you get past trying to force an image of Celyna and into the rhythm of your writing you are really very good. Editing, per se, is probably unnecessary.

Your biggest challenge is that your manuscript is VERY short. Anthologies are growing in popularity and this story might have an opportunity for publication as part of one. However, if you want a "solo" act you are going to have to double, and perhaps more, the number of words. Publishers look for 90,000 words as the best mix of perceived value and controlled cost. For the romance genre you can drop as low as 70,000 words.

I also come from a journalism background. With my first attempt at a novel I could not imagine how anyone could string 100,000 words together on any subject. KEEP IT SHORT is our prime directive in journalism and it is very hard to overcome. If you find yourself struggling with this we do offer a coaching service, some one-on-one time with an author/editor.

Mark

Example 2 -- NACS Coaching

FROM THE AUTHOR:

Dear Sarah,

I want to thank you for taking the time to help me with my writing. It has given me an insight that will be helpful. I do have a few questions I would like an answer for:

My intent for Jessie telling the story is to show that she is very "folksy". If I delete her provincialism, i.e. using home-spun clichés, what happens to her "special quality" as the narrator? 

I have been taught that a writer needs to write dialog like a person talks, not thinks. As an Editor, are you telling me to write dialog like a person thinks?

This story is about "Remarkable women"! First and fore most it is about my mother's mother; yet, it is about my mother too. My mother lives in an apartment (none of her children live with her). She still walks a mile a day! She still wears three inch high-heels to church! She did the Charleston and the Blackbottom at her 90th. birthday celebration!

She has sat in the same rocking chair for nearly a half a century (she still reads five books a month) while sitting in that chair Why wouldn't she think the chair is a "companion"; and,  possibly converse with her?

The many changes made in the M.S., were they grammar errors? Were they choices suggested I make that would enhance the framing of the story? I am like too many writers, I suppose, I have the story but need the grammar polished. It would be very helpful if you denoted the distinction of that one salient point for me to learn from. 

In an earlier edit (my initial contact with the agency) the Editor deleted A.D. from the historical reference point of 1926. Why was that done? For the Christian reader, A.D. is very significant (after the death of Christ); and, I would guess that nearly all of this nation's students wouldn't have a clue about the reference to these initials (even though all of history has been marked by B.C. and A.D.) I'm sure it galls the atheist to know that is one truth they can't twist or revise.

Is it just my imagination that people normally talk in "fluff"?

Is "fluff" (folksy mannerisms and clichés) nearly always improper to use while writing a story?

Once again, thank you for your help.

FROM THE COACH:

Dear R,

To make answering your questions a little easier for me, I’ve copied them over to this file and will answer them directly following the question.

My intent for Jessie telling the story is to show that she is very "folksy". If I delete her provincialism, i.e. using home-spun clichés, what happens to her "special quality" as the narrator?

The basic rule to keep in mind is that the narrator’s job is to narrate, and the characters’ jobs are to act out the scenes. The narrator is supposed to transition the reader from one scene to the next in a dispassionate manner and to describe those things that require description. One of the hardest things for new writers to understand is how to write a story in first person perspective (the narrator, I) without having the narrator overshadow the characters as he/she relates the story to the reader. When the narrator’s personality is this strong, the reader loses track of the ‘story’ that the narrator tries to tell because it is no longer important. Allow the narrator’s earlier-self shine as she acts out the story as it happened. 

Home-spun clichés is a misnomer. Keep in mind that clichés are phrases that are so overused that they no longer are unique ways to say something. I slept like a rock, is a cliché. She was the most beautiful woman in the world is a cliché. You can bring unique qualities to your characters to make them seem like folksy people by showing their accent within their line of dialogue and show a unique speech pattern for each character. For example: If you had an uneducated sailor on a ship, his dialogue might look something like the following:

“Get’n me sum lubbin, boy,” he said in his gravely voice. “Gonna hab sum fine home cuk’n and a warm muff’n fur d’sert.”

In this case, the sailor is going on liberty to spend the night with his wife. The warm muffin is his wife’s body, so to speak. You can see his personality and his speech mannerisms. The narrator doesn’t interject herself into the story with her personality. In the case above, I showed the person’s accent… the way the lines come out sounding. Some readers might find it cumbersome to read, so instead of that, you could still show the speech patterns like such:

“Getting me some lovin’, boy,” he said in his gravely voice. “Gonna have some fine home cookin’ and a warm muffin for dessert.”

I have been taught that a writer needs to write dialog like a person talks, not thinks. As an Editor, are you telling me to write dialog like a person thinks?

 To write realistic dialogue you need to understand that people tend to speak tentatively, using passive voice verbs, and rarely speak in complete sentences all the time. A character would be likely to say, “I was scared to tell him that I thought he was a hottie.” A realistic character would be less likely to say, “I felt scared to admit I thought he was a hottie.” The first is a tentative statement, whereas the other is more definitive, stronger way of saying the same thing. People are naturally afraid to speak their minds completely and authoritatively because it makes them seem aggressive.

In narration, sentences that begin with ‘And’, ‘But’, ‘Or’, or ‘So’ weaken the delivery of the sentence and rarely add any value to it. Omitting those words from the beginning of narrative sentences strengthens the narrator’s ability to tell the story effectively. However, these same words at the beginning of dialogue make the character’s speech more realistic because people tend to speak this way.

For example:

Sarah took a deep breath before she answered. “But you just don’t understand, Mamma. He was just too handsome to say no to.”

That dialogue seems realistic, more so than the following:

Sarah took a deep breath before she answered. “You just don’t understand, Mamma. He was just too handsome to say no.”

This second sentence also doesn’t end with a dangling preposition, and you can see how much more ‘formal’ this second line of dialogue looks on the page. Try reading both aloud and ask yourself the question, “Which one sounds more realistic?”

This story is about "Remarkable women"! First and fore most it is about my mother's mother; yet, it is about my mother too. My mother lives in an apartment (none of her children live with her). She still walks a mile a day! She still wears three inch high-heels to church! She did the Charleston and the Blackbottom at her 90th. birthday celebration!

 I think that is marvelous that your grandmother at the age of 90 has such an active life and can wear high-heal shoes. That is truly remarkable, as you say. In so far as we can agree that this is remarkable, you’ll have to understand that the vast majority of the population will need to ‘see’ this remarkable information for what it is, a blessing that most women her age do not share. Thus, it is your burden as the writer to express these things about her in such a way that we understand. Simply throwing the information out there for the reader as fact, without much foundation into her character is hard for the average reader to grasp. Help them along to understand her unique nature.

She has sat in the same rocking chair for nearly a half a century (she still reads five books a month) while sitting in that chair Why wouldn't she think the chair is a "companion"; and,  possibly converse with her?

You, as the writer, can have your characters do whatever you think is right for your story. The editor’s job is to point out to the author what his/her readers will likely be thinking as they read the manuscript. It is unusual for a person to speak to an inanimate object and expect the reader not to think it is peculiar. There are many mental institutions filled with patients who do just that. I would be remiss of my responsibility to you if I failed to point out what the average reader would think while reading that. The client (author) always has veto ability, and can reject any suggestion that the editor makes if he/she doesn’t agree with the professional advice offered during the service.

The many changes you made in the M.S., were they grammar errors? Were they choices suggested I make that would enhance the framing of the story? I am like too many writers, I suppose, I have the story but need the grammar polished. It would be very helpful if you denoted the distinction of that one salient point for me to learn from.

Many of the mistakes corrected were grammatical errors, such as split infinitives, mixed pronoun usage and the like. Other times verb confusion needed clarified or words were missing to make complete sentences. I also found that over wordiness was in need of paring back for conciseness. It is important to keep sentences as tight and concise as possible. Thus instead of saying that something happened ‘over and over again’ it is cleaner to say that something happened repeatedly. The biggest problem I found was the structure of your dialogue, which requires double quotation marks at the beginning and end of the dialogue and specific types of punctuation at the end. The following are examples of the types of punctuation.

“What do you think of that?” she asked.

“Well, to tell the truth, I’m not too happy about it,” she said.

“So you said!”

Thus you see that if questions are asked, you still need the question mark. If the dialogue is a regular statement, a comma is at the end if a dialogue tag accompanies it.

Exclamations are also used when necessary. However, in each case, the punctuation is inside the quotation marks, not outside them.

In an earlier edit (my initial contact with the agency) the Editor deleted A.D. from the historical reference point of 1926. Why was that done? For the Christian reader, A.D. is very significant (after the death of Christ); and, I would guess that nearly all of this nation's students wouldn't have a clue about the reference to these initials (even though all of history has been marked by B.C. and A.D.) I'm sure it galls the atheist to know that is one truth they can't twist or revise.

 As stated earlier, the author has the prerogative to reject a suggestion that the editor makes to you. The A.D. makes the date more ‘formal’ but if it is important to you as the writer to have the religious implication remain in the text, then you should keep it.

Is it just my imagination that people normally talk in "fluff"?

 No, it isn’t in your imagination that people speak in a rambling sort of way, adding more than is necessary to relate their thoughts. However, dialogue is the one place where fluff can remain in a manuscript. Narration needs to be tight, and decisive to catch the reader’s attention and keep them turning the pages.

Is "fluff" (folksy mannerisms and clichés) nearly always improper to use while writing a story?

You don’t want to have ‘fluff’ in the narration. Every sentence should move the story forward and add REAL value to the reader, as should each word they read. Over describing things stagnates the story. Narration should be dispassionate, simply leading the reader from one important event to the next and describe those things that are relevant to understand what is happening. The characters can have strange quirky personalities to help liven the story, and bring it to life. Yet you want to stay away from clichés at all costs. Submission editors at agencies and or publishing companies tend to put manuscripts with clichés to the side without further consideration. You want to put your best work in front of them and catch their eye due to your unique vision instead of recycling worn out phrases that make them think you can’t be creative.

Once again, thank you for your help.

 I hope the answers I’ve provided help to clarify your confusion. Writing is a tricky business, but with some practice and with working with an editor you will find it gets easier the more you do it.