I’ve just guested again at Litopia, the online writers’ colony and community. Each week they have a YouTube show, Pop-Up Submissions, where four manuscripts are read and critiqued live on air by literary agent Peter Cox @agentpete and a guest, or sometimes two. This time the other guest was longtime Litopian Annie Summerlee @anniesummerlee , who has published short stories in a range of online publications.
The format is simple. Four manuscripts, each with a short blurb. We hear the opening pages, then discuss how they’re working – exactly as agents and commissioning editors would consider a submission.
As you can see, there is oodles to learn from the chat room comments alone. The audience might not always know why something does or doesn’t work, but they know when they’re engaged, or confused, or eager to read more. Then your trusty hosts discuss the whys and hows.
On this show we talk about:
Where to start the story – this was a huge issue for every one of the entries. Although a novel’s opening chapters require a lot of scene-setting, they need to offer more too. The reader needs to become engaged with the story and the characters, not just the descriptions of the world. Here you can see what happens when the author gets that balance wrong.
Writing from the viewpoint of an animal – this is enormously tricky. Vocabulary, world view and description all have to be carefully tailored to make this work. Has this author managed it? Judge for yourself and see how your impressions compare with those of the genius room and the panel.
Need for more dialogue and action – many of the openings were heavy on description but light on character involvement.
Titles that are too long, too difficult to remember or misleading – titles have to do so much. They are one of the first ways we reach out to the reader. Are we doing it effectively? On the show, we always spend a while considering the title for each entry and whether it’s doing its job. And some of them are just right! Come and see why.
Comparison titles – what they are and why it’s useful for you to identify them.
Blurbs that need more attention – it’s so hard to summarise your book in just a paragraph. One of the best ways to learn is to see the mistakes that others make – and when a writer has a blurb that hits all the spots.
Tiny writing details that matter – all these authors wrote smoothly and vividly, but sometimes there was an odd word choice or lexical repetition. Notice how they matter!
Action versus emotion – why do we make a distinction about that? One of our most interesting discussions.
The importance of knowing your genre – so that you give readers the thing they enjoy. Though you then also give them more than they were expecting.
Self-publishing – we briefly discuss self-publishing! How it’s more feasible today than ever – and why. And tips for success.
Find the full show here. And if you’ve got a manuscript you’d like critiqued, apply here.
There’s a lot more about writing in my Nail Your Novel books – find them here. If you’re curious about my own work, find novels here and my travel memoir here. And if you’re curious about what’s going on at my own writing desk, here’s my latest newsletter. You can subscribe to future updates here.