Category Archives: manuscript appraisals

Spontaneity in fiction

Posted on September 14, 2014 by Danielle de Valera

How important IS spontaneity in fiction? The answer is: It depends. Some works benefit from having a style that appears spontaneous. However, in my experience, when emerging writers talk about spontaneity and the fear of losing it by redrafting, they … Continue reading →

Posted in advice about writing, advice for writers, Australian manuscript appraisers, editing, editors, fear of losing spontaneity, fiction editing, getting published, manuscript appraisals, manuscript appraisers, manuscript assessments, manuscript assessors, traditional publishing | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

“Real” Dialogue

Posted on July 19, 2014 by Danielle de Valera

Good dialogue in novels is not real dialogue, which is often very boring, containing as it does a lot of batting about of unimportant information between the two parties. Too often, writers get led astray by their desire for realism … Continue reading →

Posted in advice about writing, advice for writers, advice on dialogue, Australian manuscript appraisers, Dialogue, editing, editors, fiction editing, manuscript appraisals, manuscript appraisers, manuscript assessments, manuscript assessors | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Ten Ways to Make Certain Your Novel Won’t be Published Traditionally

Posted on June 15, 2014 by Danielle de Valera

1.   Don’t redraft on the grounds that you don’t want to lose the spontaneity of your work. 2.   If you do decide to do the 8+ drafts necessary to make someone take you seriously, you insist on doing them online, … Continue reading →

Posted in advice for writers, editing, editors, fiction editing, getting published, manuscript appraisals, manuscript appraisers, manuscript assessments, manuscript assessors, traditional publishing | Tagged , , , , , , , | 10 Comments