#editortips for 07.26.12

@smoulderingsea: Not even the best voice can save a story if it wanders off track and spends pages doing everything but getting to the point.  #editortips

@smoulderingsea: Be careful when weaving backstory into narrative. It can come across as artificial as dialogue that says "As you know, I've..." #editortips

@smoulderingsea: Timing is absolutely essential to weaving a story together. Without proper timing, there's no gut reaction, no impact, no punch. #editortips

@smoulderingsea: If a book is an emotional rollercoaster, those many ups and downs need reasons. Move the plot; don't just jerk readers around. #editortips

@smoulderingsea: Handling scenes involving multiple people can be tricky. Be careful not to get lost in detailing everyone's actions and speech. #editortips

@smoulderingsea: If your agent is selling editorial services and pushing you toward their self-publishing company, you have the wrong agent. #editortips

@smoulderingsea: Not every word works with -ize or -ness tacked onto it. Rememberize your rules of good writingness. #editortips

@smoulderingsea: Character catchphrases can be cute, but be careful not to overdo it or people will get stabby after the nth time seeing it. #editortips

@smoulderingsea: Avoid descriptions that are just itemized lists. There's more to a room than what fills it, more to a person than their clothes. #editortips

@smoulderingsea: Be wary of using "startled" in awkward ways. "She crept up behind him, and he startled." Technically right. Stylistically gross. #editortips

@smoulderingsea: Just because your story didn't hook one agent or editor doesn't mean it won't hook another. We all connect in different ways. #editortips

About #editortips:
#editortips is a daily rash of tweets from an only partially crazy editor, chock full of random chocolatey morsels about writing, editing, and querying vaguely disguised as helpful pointers and/or really bad humor. I tweet as @smoulderingsea, and try to post with some consistency every weekday at 6PM CST. Weekends optional, depending on if I’m spending yet another Saturday night editing because my social life consists of Netflix and creating plaster molds of strangers' feet.