Thursday November 21
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Readers Notice and They Care

February 19, 2020 by Fiction Editor Beth Hill

Readers care about story details and they care about characters. Both last night and this afternoon I had conversations with readers upset about the way authors had portrayed a character. The first conversation was with a grocery clerk, a stranger to me, and the second was with a family member. Both mentioned that a character […]

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Story Goal, Story Question, and the Protagonist’s Inner Need (Story Structure Part 1)

July 13, 2019 by Fiction Editor Beth Hill

This is the first article in a series exploring the elements of story structure. Part 1 looks beyond the topics of three-act and mythic structure to a review of the story goal (concern of the protagonist), the story question (concern of the reader), and the protagonist’s inner need.

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The Blog is Back

July 10, 2019 by Fiction Editor Beth Hill

Celebrating because my web host finally got the blog back up and running! My apologies to those who couldn’t access the blog for the past few days. Apparently there was trouble migrating the domain to a new server, but there should be no more problems with access now. Enjoy the blog!

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Get Skilled

June 13, 2019 by Fiction Editor Beth Hill

You’ll find a lot of articles at this blog that encourage the new writer. Writers come to writing for many reasons, and not all will have a background in writing, fiction, or literature. And while I will forever encourage writers to begin writing at any time and for whatever reason, I do want to further […]

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The Calendar Year Changes Again

December 30, 2018 by Fiction Editor Beth Hill

I challenge you–writer or editor–to strengthen one of your writing skills this next year.

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Word Choice, Word Order, and Word Placement Can Matter

July 2, 2018 by Fiction Editor Beth Hill

English is a forgiving and accommodating language.  And that means that writers have a whole lot of leeway when it comes to deciding how to word phrases and structure sentences. A sentence can consist of a single independent clause (simple sentence), multiple independent clauses (compound sentence), or at least one dependent clause and at least […]

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Hold Off on Polishing

May 30, 2018 by Fiction Editor Beth Hill

Don’t bother trying to polish a first or second draft. Because of the changes you’ll make to subsequent drafts, a polish before its time is a waste of time.

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When the Familiar is Too Familiar

May 11, 2018 by Fiction Editor Beth Hill

Fact-checking is critical so that readers trust what you tell them and so they aren’t pulled out of your stories by inaccurate details. Fact-check your fiction.

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When a Comma Isn’t Enough

April 8, 2018 by Fiction Editor Beth Hill

Punctuating interrupted dialogue is a confusing topic for both writers and editors, but there is a definitive answer to the question, “how do you punctuate interrupted dialogue?” Use dashes.

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Talk About Gerunds

March 7, 2018 by Fiction Editor Beth Hill

Gerunds look like verbs but act like nouns. Explore the variety of uses for gerunds.

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