About Geri Schear
-
Recent Comments
Geri Schear Blog
Category Archives: Back to Basics
How to Handle with Rejection
If you do receive a response, even if it’s a rejection, consider it a gift. Continue reading
Writing the Author’s Bio
Here’s the most important thing to remember about writing your bio: Don’t draw attention to negativities. For instance, do not say, “Josh has never written anything before.” No, no, no. Keep your biography positive and on point. Continue reading
Writing the Cover Letter
Armed with as much information as you can find, next read the writer’s guidelines for that agent or company. And here’s a pro tip: Follow it to the letter. If they say they want the first fifty pages, do not send them the entire manuscript. If they want a one page synopsis, do not send them a 10-page one. Continue reading
The Blurb: Or How to Sell your Book in One Minute
In addition to appearing on sites and on the book cover itself, the blurb can be used to sell the story to editors and / or publishers. It can, and should be, incorporated into the cover letter. As you can imagine, there’s a lot riding on it, so it’s important that you make it as compelling as possible. Continue reading
Before You Publish
Consider your publishing options. If you decide to go the self-publishing route, be prepared to do all the hard graft yourself. Continue reading
Posted in Back to Basics, Writing
Tagged Final Edit, Titles, Traditional or self-publishing
Leave a comment
How to Use a Subplot
A subplot can accomplish a lot of things in your novel. It can add to the tension, balance the grief or fear with humour, slow or speed up the pace, or reveal a new side to the main character. Continue reading
What You Should Know About Exposition and Pacing
If you look at the dictionary, you’ll see some guff about how exposition comes at the beginning of the story to introduce the characters and set the scene. Yikes! Continue reading
Making a Scene
The setting means the place, but broad and specific. By that I mean it can include the country, as well as the specific environment where the scene occurs. For instance, a hotel room in the bad part of Liverpool; Mark’s penthouse on Park Avenue, New York; or something like, ‘the middle of the Yorkshire moors.’ Continue reading
From Idea to Story: Part Five
Some of you may have written a bare-bones summary of the story. Others will have written as complete a draft as possible. I fall into the latter category. I like having as much of the story written as possible. With the first draft, I can let my imagination run wild. This is when the story surprises me, when characters develop minds of their own, and when the plot turns in directions I never expected. Continue reading
Geri Schear 