The Chopping Blog

There are two pillars to effective storytelling: immersion and emotional draw. Immersion is what transports readers into your story world. Emotional draw is what keeps them there.

A truly effective hook doesn't just make promises—it's also the initial evidence that those promises will be fulfilled.

In the run-up to a series of autumn writing conferences, the Darling Axe senior editors are offering five free webinars.

Pre-orders open mid-August—join our launch list for updates by sending a note to editors@darlingaxe.com.

"I’m always going to have my books edited professionally, but I also appreciate help at the marketing level—from an expert."

The Darling Axe will be hosting our first-ever exclusive writing retreat in magnificent Tofino during storm-watch season—February 2024.

To me, an unpublishable manuscript is simply not publishable yet.

"I’m still waiting for a future version of myself to come back to the present and tell me how to effectively market a novel."

"I can tell a manuscript isn't ready for submission when the opening pages are full of backstory or exposition that doesn't set up the plot or move the story forward."

Darling Axe editor Dola Basu Singh is featured in the newly released book Discover the Editor in You.

One of my pet peeves is reading a character as they tell another character what they already know: "Sis, you know I'm married and have six kids."

Like many “rules” in writing and publishing, there is more to the story than meets the eye.