Keep Your Focus on Content

When writing and preparing a book, it is easy to get distracted by the logistical aspects—finding a publisher, crafting query letters, determining the necessity of an agent, marketing the book, and so on. Remember to keep your focus on the book itself. Content is the most important aspect of this endeavor. To be sure you are submitting the best work you can, keep these points in mind:

Write well. Let your voice be heard, but be consistent and authentic. Critique yourself, and do not be afraid of rewriting sections. Keep the readers engaged in your story by using techniques like cliffhangers and dramatic chapter endings. Be surprising, not predictable. Be concise and precise so the essentials of the story are forefront.

Develop characters. Readers need to care about the people in your book. Make the hero and heroines identifiable and admirable. Ensure that the villains are interesting despite their evil ways. Readers need to believe that these characters are real. Reading aloud dialogue is a great way to test the authenticity of your characters’ voices. If you’re stumped, start listening to the ways people around you speak. No one speaks exactly the same; identifying the quirks in speech patterns will give you ideas on how to personalize each character’s dialogue.

Get emotional … but provide closure. Whether you write a happy ending or a tragic one, the readers need to be satisfied with the outcome of the characters they have come to care about. Leave them with insight or inspiration, but make sure you leave them with something.

Organize the plot. However you want to structure your book, make it simplistic enough that readers won’t get confused or frustrated and put it down. This doesn’t mean you have to write in chronological order or give backstory before really getting into your tale. Just be sure whatever choices you make are clear to the reader. Keep the narrative clear as well. Multiple points of view can be interesting and fun, but don’t switch around so much that readers get lost.

Seek feedback. Whether you ask a friend to read your manuscript or you hire a freelance editor, getting another opinion is always helpful before submitting your work to a publisher.Идея за подаръкикони