mountains with waterfall in center with words Soggy Middle Troubleshooting

Soggy Middle Troubleshooting

Last weekend at the Suffolk Mystery Authors Festival, I spoke with several writers who have gotten stuck in the middle of their book--what I call the 'soggy middle.'

Essentials for Writers: Loglines

In 2022, we started asking for loglines as part of the submission process for the RevPit Annual Contest. Because this was new to the contest and a lot of the…
Two hands holding puzzle pieces that will connect, with words in orange, "The Plot - Character Connection"

The Plot – Character Connection

In the best stories, plot and character are so intricately linked that you couldn't pull one out without the whole thing unraveling. If you can, it's going to lead to "can't connect" or "didn't love it." This is called the plot - character connection.
A book open flat, with the pages folded into a heart and the title "What to Look for in Your First Chapter"

What to Look for in Your First Chapter

While I tend to read more than the first pages based on the premise, because starting in the wrong place is really common, those first pages can make or break an entry when it’s on submission to an agent or publishing editor—or a reader if you’re self-publishing.

Writing Essentials: Conflict

When we think about conflict in a story, we mean two types of conflict: internal and external. Every story must have both kinds of conflict, and they are interconnected--the external…

RevPit 2022 #10Queries Roundup

Every year during the #RevPit Annual Contest, the editors tweet anonymous feedback on participants’ queries and first five pages. This way, the feedback in the tweets is helpful to all…