In the context of editing a longer manuscript, I hear people talk about how there might not be a clear narrative ‘through line’ and if so, how to find it? Do you have thoughts on this?
NEW! VMI mentors and graduates will now be offering workshop and mini courses from time to time. Subscribe to the newsletter for notification.
Plot and Structure with Kathryn Para, MFA
Shortlisted: Ethel Wilson Fiction
Winner: Great BC Novel Contest
Date: November 7
Fee: $65.00
Location: Vancouver’s West End
Length: 4 hours.
NEW! VMI mentors and graduates will now be offering workshop and mini courses from time to time. Subscribe to the newsletter for notification.
Cost: $200 plus GST (10.00) total $210 includes refreshments
Dates & times: October 23, 7 pm-9:00 pm, October 24, 9:30 am- 5:30 pm
Register: Workshop is limited to 12 writers.
How do you know when to stop revising? I presume that if one does get picked up by an agent or publisher they will have their own editor who will ask you to revise again, so when do you know to leave it alone?
How do you match a writer/manuscript with a VMI mentor? [Donna Lee Mae]
First, it’s important to say that I’m the matchmaker! However, mentors review the writer’s application I’ve matched them with before I inform the writer whom they will be working with.
Everytime I ask myself a question, I answer it. Lately, this is the question: how do you find your voice in the telling and not sit too far back? In other words: how do you find that intimate tone when the material is so personal?
What are some guidelines you would suggest for writing an Acknowledgements page? [Rahat Kurd]
Often, this is a task to do in the 11th hour before publication but in fact, it’s an important piece of writing.
I’m a poet who writes sixty or seventy poems and THEN tries to group them into a manuscript. This is a difficult way to find a through line or order as I don’t automatically have a beautiful way to group the poems.
I have two characters that play central roles throughout the story.
Granny mutters and mumbles to herself, talks aloud to the dog and the TV.
Question, should her talking aloud be in:
➢ Quotes?
What is the best mode of packaging a manuscript for an agent or publisher? Should I use Word, Microsoft Publisher, or a PDF? How far do you need to go in terms of making sure the margins, spaces between paragraphs, etc.
How do you “dig deep” in a scene to write it in the most compelling way possible? Are there techniques for exploring different options? [Carol Cram]
Assume that you need you to dig deeper whenever you write a scene: it’s rare that this is not the case.
