Category Archives: Characters

Monday Advice from Agents and Editors: Match Dialogue to Character

Posted on November 10, 2014 by Donna Maloy, Author

When asked by a blog commenter to name the major shortcomings he sees in manuscripts, developmental editor Alan Rinzler called out–           “dialogue that all sounds like the same person.” Editor/author/writing guru James Scott Bell seconds that opinion, emphatically. He … Continue reading →

Posted in Differentiating Characters, Differentiating Characters, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Monday Advice from Agents and Editors: Start with Character

Posted on June 23, 2014 by Donna Maloy, Author

In a recent post for Adventures in YA Publishing, Susan Hawk of The Bent Agency answered the burning question, “What would make you stop reading when reviewing sample pages?” Her answer wasn’t specifically directed to YA manuscripts. But it was surprising—at first … Continue reading →

Posted in Character-driven action, Character-driven action, Openings, Susan Hawk, Uncategorized | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Monday Advice from Editors and Agents: Develop Interiority

Posted on November 5, 2012 by Donna Maloy, Author

INTERIORITY (according to Merriam-Webster.com) 1) interior quality or character. 2) inner life or substance; psychological existence. First known use: 1701 For a word that’s been around some 300 years, INTERIORITY had never even cleared my event horizon until I discovered … Continue reading →

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Monday Advice from Editors & Agents – Be Mean to Teens

Posted on August 6, 2012 by Donna Maloy, Author

Starting today, I’ll be blogging every Monday (or having guest bloggers in) to talk about advice from editors and agents – whether we followed the advice, disagreed with it, or tossed it out the window. Being Mean to Your Main … Continue reading →

Posted in Characters, Conflict, Young Adult books, Young adults | Leave a comment

Character Names

Posted on July 30, 2012 by Donna Maloy, Author

“Real World” Names There are a great many resources available for picking character names for “real world” works of fiction.  If the characters have a known ethnicity in their makeup, you can go to Google and easily search for those … Continue reading →

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