The Chopping Blog

The Devil's in the Details

January 17, 2022

Writing description is like wielding a zoom lens. You, the author, need to decide what’s worth zooming in on and what can be left to blend into the background.

On the craft

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Success Story with James Maynard

January 15, 2022

Every writer knows the loneliness of writing, but inside that loneliness there is the hope that what you write will be read.

Success Stories

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The Power of a Pitch

January 14, 2022

Publishing credentials, well-researched comp titles, and a bit of personalization will certainly help your case, but your pitch is currency.

On querying

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Book Broker – an interview with Tim Wojcik

January 11, 2022

I often see writers clearing their throats—writing out information about a character’s background or past or over-explaining their situation instead of trusting their reader to piece things together for themselves.

Agent interviews

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Book Broker – an interview with Patricia Nelson

December 30, 2021

If I get to page fifty and there still hasn't been an inciting incident, or the main character is being pushed along by the events of the plot rather than making choices that drive the action, the novel is likely to lose my attention.

Agent interviews

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Story Skeleton—Little Women

December 27, 2021

It’s interesting to consider how Alcott may have completed Jo’s arc were she given artistic freedom to write as she pleased.

Story Skeleton

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Book Broker – an interview with Rach Crawford

December 22, 2021

If you’re writing a query letter and the description of your plot begins with something that happens in chapter three or four, that’s a good sign that you may be including too much preamble.

Agent interviews

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Book Broker – an interview with Kate Johnson

December 20, 2021

When a proposal is competing against a hundred others for my time and attention, the more polished submission is going to win.

Agent interviews

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Write What You Know—And What You Don't

December 18, 2021

Yes, we’re creators, storytellers, fabricators extraordinaire, and hopefully, empaths, but we’re not body snatchers—or soul snatchers for that matter.

On the craft

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Book Broker – an interview with Lynn Johnston

December 16, 2021

The ability to distill a complex topic into consumable ideas shows the author has command of the material. If you can do that in the submission, you've already beaten the odds.