As writers, we doubtless spend a lot of time and effort making our stories the best that they can be.

Unfortunately, all of that hard work lends to such an intimate familiarity with our manuscripts that we often to fail to see some of our stories’ biggest (and tiniest!) issues — anything from major plot holes and off-kilter pacing to spelling and grammar mistakes and inconsistencies in the text.

The opening chapters of your story are doubtless some of the most important you’ll write.

When crafted with care, a strong opening sequence effectively hooks readers into your story, encouraging them to keep turning pages to learn more about your characters, plot, and story world. A poor opening sequence, on the other hand, can lead readers to toss your book aside in boredom or frustration before your story ever gets off the ground. 

Knowing the vital importance of a strong opening sequence, I jumped at the opportunity to work with freelance editor Isobelle Lans when she offered me her ‘First Three Chapters’ service in exchange for an honest testimonial and review. 

In recent months, I’ve had the privilege of working with two freelance editors to prepare my upcoming book for writers, Build Your Best Writing Life, for publishing. 

First, I worked with Sara Letourneau of Heart of the Story Editorial to complete a line edit, which helped ensure I was using the best possible language to convey each point in my book. I then worked with Sarah Kolb-Williams of KolbWilliams.com on a copy edit to further polish my writing. (I’ll also be working with Sarah later this month on a final proofread of the book.)

Before these occasions, I hadn’t worked with a professional editor in any capacity. Because I knew so little about the process, I was nervous to dive in. Still, I braved the experience because I knew that working with professional editors was essential if I wanted to prepare the best possible book to share with the world.

In the end, I couldn’t have asked for two better first experiences, which were in large part due to choosing the best freelance editors for me and my manuscript — but that’s not what we’re going to discuss today. (If you’re looking for tips on choosing a great editor, make sure to check out Sara Letourneau’s recent guest post on this subject).

Rather, today I’m going to help you have a fantastic first time working with a freelance editor by breaking down everything you need to know before getting started. If you’re feeling nervous or confused about the process, this is the blog post for you.

A little beta reader feedback can go a long way toward improving the quality of your work. 

In last week’s article, I answered six common questions about working with beta readers, including what beta readers are, why their feedback is invaluable, and how you can find the beta readers who will provide the most constructive feedback on your work. Today, I’m following that introduction with a guide to creating the very best beta experience for both you and your readers.

Remember, beta readers are providing you with a free service, taking the time to read your manuscript and share feedback on how you can improve it before you publish. That’s a lot of work! It’s your job to make that work as enjoyable as possible for your beta readers. And when you do, you may just find that you set yourself up for a fantastic beta reader experience as well.

Nothing improves the quality of your writing like a little objective feedback.

Sure, a few well-honed self-editing skills can go a long way toward helping you craft incredible stories. But at the end of the day, you’re simply too close to your work to truly revise and refine it to be the best that it can be. This is where a second pair of eyes (or many seconds) can come in handy, specifically in the form of beta readers.

I recently worked with beta readers for the first time to seek feedback on my upcoming book Build Your Best Writing Life, and I couldn’t have asked for a better experience. I’m now excited to share what I learned from that experience in a new two-part series here on the blog, beginning with today’s post answering the most common questions about working with beta readers:

I often say the magic of writing happens in revision. 

When you revise, you transform a lumpy first draft into a powerful and cohesive story, cutting filler, strengthening the narrative, and shoring up your story’s foundations. As you edit, that same magic manifests in your prose, helping you transform weak and clumsy writing into an irresistible read.

In last week’s article, I shared an overview of how you can strengthen your prose at every step in the writing process, from drafting to revising and editing. Today, let’s dive into the nitty-gritty. As you work to tighten your prose during edits, here are eight things in your manuscript to cut or reconsider…

Most fiction writers come to the page with a passion for either language or storytelling.

My own strengths lie in the latter. I love mapping plots arcs, developing characters, and crafting fictional worlds. Yet for me, translating those story elements onto the page has always felt like pulling teeth. I simply don’t have a natural knack for prose, which is why I’ve spent the past several years working hard to improve the quality of my writing.

If you’d like to do the same, today’s article is for you. In this mega-guide, I’m sharing each specific element of prose you should consider at every step in the writing process, breaking down the overwhelm of learning to write wonderfully readable prose so you can work to level up your writing skills with confidence. Shall we begin?

Every phenomenal story unfolds in a series of scenes. 

If each scene in a book is a link in a chain, one weak link can threaten the overall power of a story. By learning how to craft better, more compelling scenes — scenes that are irresistible in their interest and emotional pull — we learn how to craft better, more compelling stories. But what exactly makes for a spellbinding, well-structured scene?

To answer that question, we must first ask another...

Editing a short story or novel is its own craft, using a separate skill set from writing. It’s a different approach and needs a different mindset. This isn’t to say that editing can’t be creative; it’s creating solutions to problems. Through editing, you’ll identify problems in your story and figure out the best solutions.

As you make the mental shift from writing to editing, you have to be able to look at your own work with a level of objectiveness in order to make your story the best it can be. In this post, I’d like to offer suggestions to help you gain perspective on your manuscript.

Motifs can serve several powerful purposes in storytelling.

Yet because motifs are often discussed in literary and academic circles, many genre-fiction writers fail to explore the potential of this powerful literary device — but literary devices aren’t for literary writers alone. Flashbacks, foreshadowing, mood, imagery, metaphor, and suspense are all literary devices that, among other examples, are commonly employed by genre and literary writers alike.

How, then, can all writers utilize motifs to strengthen the quality of their storytelling? Let’s dive deep into this topic today, writers!

Looking to improve the ease of editing a project?

If you’d like to strengthen your verb usage, refine your story’s dialogue, cut unnecessary adjectives, or otherwise hone in on a specific part of speech in your project, Scrivener’s Linguistic Focus feature is a lifesaver. With a simple click, Linguistic Focus highlights the chosen part of speech in your text, allowing you to easily make necessary changes and simplify your editing process.

Pretty awesome, right? Let's break down this epic Scrivener function in today's video lesson and transcript, which are excerpted from our video tutorial course, Storytelling With Scrivener. Click here to learn more about the course today!

Ah, the Great Prologue Debate. Should they or should they not have a place in fiction?

The necessity of prologues (or lack thereof) is a topic that’s frequently discussed in online writing circles, and today I’d like to add my two cents to the clamor. You see, I feel pretty strongly about the power of a prologue well written. It’s a story element I’ve enjoyed time and time again as a reader, and also one that I’ve worked to emulate in many of my own stories.

Why do I think that prologues have their place? And what defines a prologue as well-written in my eyes? Allow me to share my thoughts with you in today’s article, writers.