editing

  • Editing, How-to, Uncategorized

    5 ways to improve your manuscript

    Good news! These tips don’t involve any writing.

    Feeling a bit of writer’s block? Don’t worry, there are lots of ways to improve your manuscript without having to labour over sentences and story arc.

    Here are five ways to give your work-in-progress a lift, without lifting your word count.

    1. Brush up formatting

    Go through your manuscript and make sure each chapter is set on a new page (use a page break instead of hitting that return button), chapters are numbered in order, and you’ve used an easy-to-read font like Times New Roman 12 pt, with double or 1.5 line spacing.

    This will instantly improve your manuscript by giving it a more consistent and professional appearance, and save you time later when you’re getting it ready to submit to publishers or agents.

    2. Check regional spelling

    Did you know there are lots of variations of English? Depending on your target audience, you can choose the one your readers will be most familiar with. If you’re publishing in Australia, use Australian English. This means you’ll be following the Macquarie Dictionary for spelling variations. If you’re aiming for the US market, go with US English – the Merriam-Webster is a great resource (and it’s free!). For British readers, use UK English and the Oxford Dictionary.

    Choosing a regional English language helps you to maintain consistency across your manuscript. It ensures you catch words that are spelled differently in different countries – like curb and kerb, cosy and cozy – and it will guide you on regional terms such as trash can or garbage bin, sidewalk or pavement, lollies or candy, cell phone or mobile phone – the list goes on.

    3. Look at consistency

    I can’t emphasise enough how important consistency is in making a finished manuscript look professional! As the author, you get to make a lot of decisions about the words you want to use and your preferred spelling variations to ensure consistency. Run searches for words that can be spelled differently, such as OK vs okay, and choose one to use throughout. You should also check whether you’ve used punctuation such as quote marks (single or double) and dashes (en or em) consistently throughout.

    Note: in Australia, we tend to use single quote marks with nested doubles, eg: ’Hey, did you hear that song, “Espresso” by Sabrina Carpenter?’ The US tends to reverse this: double quotes with nested singles, eg: “No, I much prefer Dua Lipa‘s new song, ’Illusion’.

    Consistency affects loads of elements: You can also make a note of how you’ll use numbers (as a basic starting point, we often see numbers one to ninety-nine spelled out and 100+ as numerals in books), show time (words or figures), address capitalisation in headings, punctuate abbreviations and more.

    And of course, it affects aspects such as character features and setting details as well. Taking note of whether your main character has blue eyes and always wears rose-scented perfume will ensure you don’t confuse readers by mixing up those foundational details later in the story.

    4. Review character names

    Do any of your characters have similar sounding names? If you have two characters with names that look and sound alike – Dave and Dan or Lisa and Liz, for instance – it’s a good idea to change one of them, to ensure readers don’t get confused about who’s doing what. This applies to minor characters too!

    Even if you don’t think your characters’ names are similar, they can appear that way on the page to a reader who’s skimming over a paragraph. So even sharing the same initial can be enough to warrant changing a character name.

    While you’re there, keep an eye out for characters’ names that have changed during the course of the novel. This happens more often than you might think!

    5. Weed out repetition

    Do you already know which words you have a tendency to use in every second sentence? If so, do a search and see how many instances you can remove to ensure they don’t become repetitive. This applies to elements such as speech tags and action beats, too. You might find you’re often making your characters fiddle with their hair or exclaim loudly!

    If you haven’t yet twigged to your crutch words, start by searching for adverbs: really, very, finally, actually and completely are common, and most of the time you don’t need them. Take a look and see how many you can weed out! It’ll make your writing so much stronger.

    Don’t feel bad that you’ve developed a writing crutch – it’s natural to reach for the same words over and over, especially when working on a full-length novel. Looking out for them so you can change it up is all part of the editing process – and it’s a powerful way to improve your manuscript.

    Want some help maintaining consistency in your work? Reach out about line and copyediting. I’ll look out for all these aspects and more, and will record all decisions in a style sheet so you can keep track of your preferences throughout the publishing process.

  • Editing

    What is an author-sensitive editorial approach?

    A note on my editorial values.

    Recently I was speaking with a potential client who expressed their fears around sharing their work with other people. They had a fiction manuscript that only a few trusted confidants had seen, and now they were gearing up to show it to a professional – but they were nervous. What if an editor told them it was a total mess and they needed to start again? Or worse, to give up writing altogether?

    I understood their concerns completely, and I reassured them that their worst-case scenario was very unlikely to come true – with me as their editor, at least. The conversation got me thinking about my editorial values and why I’m so passionate about identifying as an author-sensitive editor.

    I can’t take credit for this terminology – I first heard it when I was learning about structural editing from the wonderful fiction editor Nicola O’Shea. But the concept resonated deeply with me and I knew instantly that this would inform my approach as I set up my editorial business.

    What is it?

    An author-sensitive approach means that I consider the author’s feelings and experience with every edit I make. 

    It’s not about pandering or going soft on an author who can’t hack constructive criticism. Rather, it’s about remembering, always, that being invited to share feedback on someone’s work – especially when it’s a manuscript that’s taken many weeks, months or years to write – is a privilege. 

    Opening yourself up to feedback is a big and scary step, but an essential one. And it deserves to be treated with care and respect. 

    My experience

    I know exactly how intimidating it can feel to share your hard work with others because I’ve been there.

    As a journalist, I’ve had many people critique my work. Not all of their feedback could be described as sensitive! 

    In a busy newsroom, editors and subeditors will slash your copy with a red pen or tell you straight up that your work isn’t good enough. There’s very little time to be gentle when a newspaper needs to go to print. I entered this world as a fresh-faced and eager but very thin-skinned 19-year-old cadet journalist, and let me tell you, it was a steep learning curve. 

    Later, working in magazines, I learned that even though you might have a great idea for a story, if you can’t illustrate it, it’s dead in the water. That your voice is never more important than the magazine’s tone and style. And if you don’t get the words right the first time, you might not get another chance to rework your draft. Instead, the subeditor will do that for you. Because: deadlines.

    I also learned that listening to feedback, whatever the delivery style, is the fastest way to develop as a writer.

    All this to say, I completely understand what authors go through in sharing their work with editors and I have enormous respect for anyone willing to be vulnerable enough to do so, knowing that their story will be stronger for it. But if I can make that process an enjoyable one for authors, I absolutely will. 

    My experiences as a young journalist might have helped me toughen up and get used to receiving feedback, but honestly, I don’t think that I’m better for the harsher critiques. It was the mentors who took the time and care to guide me gently towards better writing who I learned the most from. And as an editor myself, I’ve seen over and over again how a respectful, collaborative and sensitive approach can make an author feel excited and inspired to get stuck into their next draft. 

    To put it simply, I just don’t believe that tough love or shaming are the ingredients that creativity needs to flourish. 

    My editorial values

    So, what does an author-sensitive approach look like? For me, these four values guide my work, whether it’s a structural edit or a line and copy-edit. 

    Respect for craft: Writing a novel is a huge undertaking. I have enormous respect for anyone who has been able to sustain their inspiration for the marathon that a fiction manuscript demands, and for the craft of translating their ideas into a story. This level of dedication and skill deserves to be celebrated.

    Positive feedback: I always highlight what an author has done well, whether it’s a beautiful turn of phrase, excellent dialogue, fine-tuned pacing or deep characterisation. I see your efforts and I applaud them.

    Gentle suggestions: The author is always in control of their story, so I frame my feedback as suggestions, not demands. If it doesn’t resonate with you, no problem. Often, my suggestions will act as a springboard to your own solutions. The idea is to inspire your creativity, not stifle it.

    Empowerment and encouragement: If you’re waiting for me to give you a verdict on whether you can write or not, or whether you should give up writing and go back to your day job, forget it. I don’t do absolutes and I don’t offer judgements on your inherent talent (I’m all about a growth mindset here!). What I will do is highlight your strengths and show you what areas you need to work on, because I believe good writing is something that people can and do learn. I’ll encourage you to keep going and I’ll empower you to work on the next steps yourself, because this is your story. As your editor, I’m your cheerleader!

    Is an author-sensitive approach for everyone? 

    For some people, my approach might feel too soft and gentle – they just want the feedback, and they don’t need the frills! I get that too, and that’s why I really recommend having a chat before booking a service with any editor, so you can see if you gel. Editing is an investment, so you want to make sure you feel confident and comfortable with who you’re working with. 

    One other thing I’ll mention: as part of my author sensitive approach, I want to deliver my edits in an accessible way. So if you’d prefer your structural editorial report delivered as an audio file rather than written material, for instance, I can do that. I can also change the colour of my mark-up in Word if there’s a colour combo that’s better for you visually. I’m open to feedback here, so whatever you need, just ask and I’ll do my best to make it happen.

    If you like the sound of my author-sensitive approach, I’d love to chat with you about your fiction manuscript. To get the ball rolling, drop me a line here.

  • Author interviews

    Samantha L. Valentine is writing it like it is

    The Meet Me in Berlin author on why realism is essential for a great romance.

    It’s the most romantic premise: two lovers from opposite sides of the globe vow to meet in the same place at the same time every year if they should ever lose one another. It’s also pretty unrealistic, which is why Sam Valentine says she made sure the rest of her new novel, Meet Me in Berlin, was unflinchingly true to life. In this contemporary romance, Casey, a British art curator, and Holly, an Australian photographer, grapple with grief, infidelity and heartbreak on their way to their HEA.

    That’s not to say Meet Me in Berlin is a heavy read – it’s balanced with plenty of laughter and spice too, which made working on the copy-edit earlier this year a real joy for me. 

    This is Sam’s second novel – her first, Normal Functioning Adult, has just been re-released under her own publishing company – and her work has also been featured in the Romance Writers Australia Sweet Treats anthology. As Meet Me in Berlin hits shelves, I asked Sam to share her thoughts about writing realistic characters in romance, the diversity missing from Australian fiction, and why she recently made the switch from hybrid to indie publishing.

    This is a long read but a really juicy one as we explore some topical issues – grab a cuppa, settle in and enjoy! 

    Sam, it was so lovely to to work with you on Meet Me in Berlin. Can you share the story behind this book? What inspired it?

    It was mid-March 2022 when I first had the idea for this book, which came overnight! I wasn’t sure what was happening with Normal Functioning Adult (my first novel), and I was a bit down about receiving yet another rejection. A writer I was friendly with at the time had just started indie publishing short romances and suggested putting NFA to the side and trying something else – maybe writing a romance to indie publish. Immediately, I grabbed a notebook and googled Shakespeare plays for plot inspiration. Somehow The Comedy of Errors gave me the idea (I think it was the accidental meeting after a lifetime apart bit) of two people meeting, losing touch and looking for one another years later in a foreign city. I think the wedding shambles from Much Ado About Nothing gave me the idea of someone running from a wedding. The following day in my lunchbreak at work, I combined those ideas, scribbled out a basic plot and started writing that night. Ten days later, I had a very rough 38,000-word draft and it grew from there, taking a good year or so to complete.

    Other than getting the initial idea from a couple of Shakespeare plays, the events of the novel really weren’t inspired by anyone or anything – it’s all fiction – but the idea of ‘if we lose each other then we’ll return to this spot, on this day, at this time every year until we find each other’ was so unrealistic to me (yes, my own idea was unrealistic to me), I was inspired to make the rest of the novel as true to life as I could to make that concept believable. 

    Both your lead characters work in the art world and there are a couple of paintings that become meaningful for Holly and Casey. What role does art play in your life?

    Art and photography (how they feature in the novel) don’t play much of a role in my life at all. My wife is quite a good artist (drawing and painting), and we’ll go to exhibitions now and then, but I really don’t know a lot about paintings or the art scene, and I know even less about photography. 

    I stumbled upon Italia und Germania and Sappho and Erinna (the paintings referenced in the novel) when I was looking for art that suited the plot and characters, and I thought both worked well with the storyline, so I found ways to work them in. I also discovered a UK art podcast called The Week in Art, which I listened to every week while I was writing the novel, and I found a good photography podcast too. I still listen to the art podcast each week – it’s my comfort listen when I’m grocery shopping. I also love that my cover designer (who reads every novel she designs a cover for) modelled the illustration of Holly and Casey on the Sappho and Erinna painting and a scene in the book where they take a photo of themselves in a similar embrace.

    What did you find most fun or interesting about writing Meet Me in Berlin?

    It was a fun novel to write! Revisiting London and Berlin (virtually) was great, particularly London as I lived there for eight years and have such fond memories of that time. I even snuck in a street reference where I lived for a few years (Cruden Street in Angel). It was also fun to write a character like Casey who is very different from me – a mixed-race woman from East London. I did quite a bit of research to write Casey, which was interesting and insightful, particularly a book I read called Biracial Britain by Remi Adekoya. I liked writing British characters in general, too, as I did my linguistics degree in London and studied British English and English dialects, and my wife is British (not from London) so she likes that the novel features British characters. Making a silly concept like ‘if we lose each other, then we’ll come back to this spot, on this day, at this time, until we find each other’ realistic was also fun (and a bit challenging).

    I loved the way both characters deal with quite difficult circumstances and you don’t shy away from depicting morally grey actions, which we don’t always see in romance. I think it’s a great way to illustrate the growth of your characters. What made you want to lean into a realistic take rather than an idealised one?

    I’m not sure it was a case of wanting to – it’s just my style as a storyteller. I generally always write stories with a realistic take, but they’ll also have sprinklings of idealism, or at least convenient plot events to give a story a happier spin. Maybe that comes from growing up on fairytales, which are fantastic for conflict, flawed and morally grey characters, villains, dark themes, but also happy endings, satisfying character growth and positive coincidences. I’m a fairly down-to-earth, authentic and practical person and this probably comes through in my writing. That doesn’t mean I am my characters, of course, far from it, and I intentionally work hard to make my characters very different to me (my stories would be very boring if they were based on my life and I only wrote what I knew). So flawed characters who make questionable decisions (not necessarily always morally grey) will likely feature in all of my longer stories (maybe even my short stories, too — my RWA Sweet Treats anthology story certainly isn’t idealised and it will hopefully stand out for that reason). 

    Obviously there’s nothing wrong with idealised romances if that’s what people enjoy reading or authors like to write, but to me, fiction is an art form and art reflects society. Do we live in an idealised society? No. Is love and romance always idealistic, perfect and puritan? No. At its core, romance is about relationships, so it makes sense that it would contain realistic elements involving human actions and emotions. Humans are messy and flawed, their actions often a result of deep-seated wounds or their life experiences. Love and relationships can be complex and complicated. So why not show all of this in fiction as a depiction of contemporary life? That said, at the same time, novels are also great for escapism and relaxation and getting lost in other worlds, and this is where adding those idealistic elements, like happy endings or coincidences that wouldn’t actually happen in real life can help.  

    Love and relationships can be complex and complicated. So why not show all of this in fiction as a depiction of contemporary life?

    It’s interesting to me that there’s often this expectation in contemporary fiction, mainly women’s fiction and romance, that novels mirror modern society in terms of what characters do, say and think, but when a book has flawed, morally grey characters and actions that would actually happen in the real world, it’s often not well received. That seems very contradictory to me. I’ve even had a beta reader of another story tell me my character couldn’t think something because they were judging another character! To have a character only act and even think in a certain way is preposterous. 

    So far, I’ve received some really great reviews and feedback for Meet Me in Berlin, which is wonderful, and quite a few readers have commented how much they like the flawed characters. So I think generally readers do like reading about conflict and complicated actions. However, I’ve also received some not-so-great reviews, which is fine, that doesn’t bother me so much, and readers can dislike books and review however they want. But the content of some of these reviews has surprised me, which ties into the idealised view of romance books and morally grey characters. 

    In the case of Berlin, this relates to infidelity. Firstly, novels aren’t manuals for life. It’s not a novelist’s job to set the world to rights with their stories. Stories need conflict and how the plot unfolded around this topic in Berlin created the perfect conflict, both external and internal. Secondly, the way it pans out is very realistic. So many people become unhappy in relationships, even when they’re about to get married, but don’t know how to leave and end up doing something stupid as a way to get out of the relationship. People also fall for other people when they’re in relationships – it happens! Is it a hurtful, shitty thing to do? Of course it is, but I wasn’t going to turn my fictional story into a non-fiction moral compass on fidelity – who am I to tell people how to manage their relationships? I’m an author making up stories – the characters aren’t me and their story isn’t mine. I’ll also say that I’m purely talking about character flaws and morally grey actions here; I don’t think filling a book with hateful content or behaviours towards certain groups for no reason under the guise of fiction is okay.

    You’ve also said you want the world to read more diverse Australian stories. Why is that important and what do you think is missing from Australian literature?

    I don’t believe Australian fiction is nearly as diverse as people like to think it is, and I’m not sure it’s improving much either. I’ll focus on the Australian lesbian/sapphic space because that’s my area. I could count on one hand (maybe two) the traditionally published adult lesbian/sapphic novels that have been produced in this country in the past few years. There has been a small increase in lesbian/sapphic romances (of varying subgenres) overseas, and there are some Australian own voices authors with international publishers, mostly romance authors as well. But sapphic women are more than coming-out stories (which is often a YA story) and romance! 

    I see Australian agents and publishers seeking ‘diversity’, yet their actions don’t appear to support a lot of diverse fiction, because in reality, it’s about business and markets. 

    I also don’t like this notion that queer stories have to be happy ones (like YA and idealised romance). Queer women do all the things heterosexual women do – they work, get divorced, have families, grieve, have addictions, lose people, take drugs, have mental health issues, struggle with life, have affairs, get into debt and so forth, so where are these stories with lesbian characters? They’re certainly not being published by Australian publishers and I doubt it’s because they’re not being written. 

    Both Normal Functioning Adult and Meet Me in Berlin were taken seriously by big five publishers, but NFA was turned down because they didn’t know how to market it (it’s just women’s fiction but features gay women – it couldn’t be marketed alongside other women’s fiction?) and Berlin was turned down despite the publisher loving the book because apparently the market is saturated with rom-com type novels (although it’s hardly saturated with Australian sapphic rom-coms) and retailers only want the big-name authors at the moment, i.e., authors big on BookTok. So Australian publishers and agents can scream diversity all they want but at the end of the day it doesn’t trump markets, and until it does, we won’t see an increase in Australian traditionally published diverse fiction. 

    Sapphic women are more than coming-out stories and romance! 

    This is why indie publishing is popular for lesbian and sapphic fiction, because it really is the only option for so many of us. I also see a lot of people saying ‘it’s better than it was’ or ‘there’s loads of LGBTQ books now’ because queer YA is becoming more popular globally, which is great, but YA is just one genre and it’s very different to adult lesbian fiction, so it’s frustrating when people lump the entire community into one basket. Also, so many people get their books from walking into bookshops, Big W or the library. They won’t find indie published or small press digital-only books in there, so they’ll continue to never know such stories exist.

    I also see a lot of binaries in fiction – books are gay or straight, black or white, male or female, there’s very little middle ground. Something that hasn’t yet been picked up in Meet Me in Berlin by any reader and that was intentional on my part, is the blurred binary theme running through the novel – Casey is biracial, Holly is bisexual, and Dante (the wedding planner) is non-binary. Something small, but it was me saying not all fiction has to fit into a binary. 

    Let’s talk about the publication journey. Your first novel, Normal Functioning Adult, was with hybrid publisher Shawline, but you’ve since switched to indie publishing. Was working with a hybrid publisher a good training-wheels step?

    Yes, I think so. At the time of deciding to go down this path, thinking about indie publishing and doing all the things I knew I’d have to do to get a book out there was too much for me to get my head around. I knew the costs involved in getting an editor, cover designer etc., and the time it would take me to indie publish, so I went with a hybrid because the outlay was about the same. While it didn’t end up being the right path for me, it gave me the opportunity to get my novel out into the world, build an author platform, learn more about publishing contracts and processes, meet some new authors, and I made a great friend (another Shawline author) that I am so grateful is in my life now. 

    Also, the timing of everything worked out well because I was able to align the republication of Normal Functioning Adult with the release of Meet Me in Berlin meaning I could use the same cover designer, which has been great for branding, and I created a business name to publish under so I was able to coordinate this across the two novels and get the same designer to create publishing logos for me, which appear on the spine and in the front of the both books. 

    So I feel like the way it all worked out was all meant to be!

    What are the upsides to indie publishing?

    Being able to source my own cover designer, editors, proofreaders, and set my own release dates has been great. I’ve also really liked being able to do my own typesetting and being able to update my manuscript so easily if there’s an error or issue. Higher royalties are also an advantage.

    What do you find challenging? Do you have any advice you can share with other authors?

    Indie publishing has been challenging because there is so much to do, and just getting my head around all the things has blown my mind a bit! Although getting two full length novels ready to indie publish at the same time was a bit full on – I don’t recommend doing that. Dealing with Ingram Spark, Amazon etc has been tricky. My advice for those who’d like to indie publish is to set yourself a release date that gives you plenty of time to do everything you need to do. Then start looking into indie publishing, the different options and platforms, make yourself a plan and away you go. Think about editors and cover designers ahead of time because the good ones are often booked up months in advance. If you have a Mac, invest in Vellum (typesetting software) because it will save you a stack of money in typesetting fees (I bought it at a reduced price on Cyber Monday). There’s also quite a few good indie publishing Facebook groups and look at other indie authors to see what they’re doing.

    What’s your experience of the editing process like, having been through it a few times now for your books?

    So far I’ve had good experiences with editors, so I’ve been lucky, and I enjoy sending my stories out for editing feedback. I’m okay at editing my own stories, too, since I did editing in my Master’s, and I also did the Cut, Shape and Polish course through Australian Writers Centre, which I found really helpful for reviewing my own novels. But there’s always a layer of subjectivity when self-editing so I like to send my work out to someone else to edit.

    My advice for those who’d like to indie publish is to set yourself a release date that gives you plenty of time to do everything you need to do.

    Can you share any insights or aha moments that came to you during the editing process?

    For the developmental edit I had for Meet Me in Berlin, it was interesting to have another person’s view of the characters and plot because often editors will see what the authors can’t. Sophia, my developmental editor, gave some great recommendations to shape the novel, and I changed quite a few scenes from that edit. It was also interesting to have a different perspective on the characters. The description that is in the blurb about Casey, that she ‘works hard, plays hard and loves hard’ comes straight from Sophia. Although I’d spent a year writing Casey before sending the novel out for edit, I had never thought of her in those terms, but it was the perfect description for that character. 

    Your copy-edit was also an eye-opener because I had no idea how much I used certain words and action beats, and there were so many sentences that I wasn’t happy with, but I’d read the novel that many times it got to the point where I just couldn’t think of alternative phrases or words, so the copy-edit really helped with that. And picking up my Terry’s Chocolate Orange error was brilliant! [Note: A helpful thing that editors can offer is fact-checking! In this instance I double-checked a reference to this chocolate’s packaging and corrected the colour of the wrapper for Sam.]

    What stage of editing do you find most helpful?

    I find them all really helpful. A structural edit is great, but it often results in a stack of rewriting and reworking characters and plot! Copy-edits are great because you feel like you’re closer to finalising and it helps clean up all those clunky sentences and repetitions. Proofing is also good because by that stage you’ve read your own novel that many times that you think there couldn’t possibly be any mistakes, but there always is and I’m always interested to see what my own eyes missed.

    I know you work full-time, so fitting writing in must be tricky! How do you stay on track with your writing goals?

    I certainly had to give things up in order to write, like TV. Other than the news and a few shows here and there, I barely watch TV anymore and that gives me a lot of more time to do writerly things. To fit it all in around my day job, I mostly write/do author stuff in my lunch breaks (it’s amazing how much you can get done in a 45-minute lunch break if you focus), evenings, weekends and holidays. I don’t much else in my spare time – I hang out with my wife and dogs and see family and friends, but otherwise I’m usually doing author stuff of some description. 

    After a big push to release two books this year, what’s next for you?

    I have a few stories sitting there I’m planning to get back to. I’m starting with a short story I wrote last year that I’d like to extend into a longer short story and publish as a digital-only release, possibly for Sapphic September. It’s a light-hearted, fun, contemporary romance (at this stage anyway, that could change!). I’d say it’s a fish-out-of-water trope.

    Finally, Sam, what would you like your books to be known for?

    I like the idea of my books being known for something that’s just a little bit different, like romance that has a bit of edge and grit, or engaging women’s fiction that features diverse characters. Regardless of the genre, I definitely would like my books to be known for being authentic stories with real-life themes and storylines that feature flawed, realistic characters. 

    Find Sam’s books and sign up for her monthly newsletter via her website. You can follow Sam on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, Goodreads and Amazon.

  • How-to

    Who’s talking? Finding the right point-of-view character for your scene

    If you’re not sure which character should have the mic at pivotal moments in your multi-POV novel, try asking yourself this question…

    Hands up if you’re writing a dual or multi-POV novel? It’s a really popular format for commercial fiction, and it offers loads of benefits for authors: you can give the reader deeper insight into your characters and give yourself greater scope to reveal plot points. But one stumbling block you might come across along the way is working out which character should be telling the story in critical scenes.

    It can be a tricky decision to make, especially when you have two (or more) protagonists whose growth and journey is equally important to the overall narrative arc and the themes you’re expressing. That means it’s likely that the major events of your novel will be important for all characters! So, who should get to tell the story in those moments?

    All of them! I hear you cry. While that might work for you creatively, it’s not always a great outcome for the reader – seeing the same moment from multiple perspectives can be a little tedious. Instead, if you do want to have more than one character’s experience of a particular plot point on the page, it’s a good idea to show the big moment from one perspective and then let another character pick up just after the incident occurs, to keep the story moving forward.

    So, how do you find the most powerful POV?

    Here’s what I recommend: Choose the character who has the most at stake.

    Ask yourself, who has the most to lose (or gain) from this pivotal plot point? It’s their reactions and emotions as they face this hurdle that will give you the most to play with – and that will resonate most strongly with your reader.

    Look closer

    Maybe you didn’t think too hard about which character told which part of the story when writing your first draft. You got into a rhythm and switched POV at each chapter, or got comfy staying in one voice for a few chapters at a time. That’s fine – it’s great to just get the words on the page. When you’re doing your first edits, however, keep POV in the back of your mind as you assess your story’s pace and dramatic impact.

    If you feel that the critical points of your novel are falling flat and failing to hit the emotional stride you were aiming for, check the POV. Is the character with the most to lose telling the story in that scene? Or is it another who has less at stake, and is acting more as an observer? Try rewriting the scene through another character’s eyes to see if that helps raise the drama and tension.

    Equal opportunity

    Maybe the scene has equally high stakes for all of your POV characters – for instance, if you’re writing a dual-POV romance, both protagonists might be equally affected by a conflict that arises in their blossoming relationship; in a mystery novel, more than one character could easily be impacted by an important clue coming to light. In that case, think about who these characters are and how they respond to significant events. Would they appear calm in the face of crisis but fall apart internally? Do they wear their emotions on their sleeve? Are they trying so hard to keep everything together that they’re at the point of breaking? Of these, which character would give you the most to play with, emotionally speaking? Which character’s reaction style best reflects the themes of your novel? And how would their reactions – both internal and external – appear on the page?

    There’s no right or wrong answer here but considering these factors as you refine and polish your story can help you play around with the dramatic tension in your work – and lead to a more impactful experience for your reader.

    If you’d like support wrangling your multi-POV novel, I can help! Get in touch to chat about structural editing or manuscript assessments.

  • Editing, How-to

    Introducing the vocative comma

    This tiny piece of punctuation saves lives.

    One of the best things about punctuation is that when it’s used correctly it’s invisible in plain sight. It’s like driving a road you know so well that you get home without recalling the journey.

    But when it’s misused? Those misplaced commas, semicolons and dashes can be jarring!

    The vocative comma, however, is often completely invisible. That is, writers tend to leave it out of their sentences altogether. This can have disastrous implications for your characters!

    Allow me to explain. 

    What is a vocative expression? 

    Honey, sweetheart, darling, love – your pet names for your loved ones can be a vocative; so too their actual names. Any word you use to address someone directly is a vocative (also known as a vocative expression), whether it’s kind, disrespectful or neutral. Mate, sir, madam, prime minister … the list is endless! It’s how you use it that matters.

    For instance, in the sentence, “Hey, you!”, you is the vocative expression because that’s the word used as a direct address.

    Although you might not hear it in your speech, a comma is needed with a vocative expression in writing. In fact, it’s an incredibly powerful piece of punctuation.

    Consider the difference between these sentences: 

    “Shoot Pete,” the policeman cried. 

    “Shoot, Pete,” the policeman cried. 

    In the first example, without the vocative comma, Pete’s life is in grave danger! In the second, a vocative comma saves his life, showing us that the policeman is, in fact, directing Pete to shoot someone or something. 

    Similarly, the below sentence can take your story in a wild direction without a vocative comma: 

    “Eat children!” the woman urged. 

    Unless your story is exploring cannibalism, you’re going to need a comma with that: 

    “Eat, children!” the woman urged. 

    The comma makes it clear that the woman wants to feed the children, not feed on them.

    At its simplest, the vocative comma offers instant clarity. For example:

    “I don’t know Alison,” said Judy.

    has a completely different meaning to:

    “I don’t know, Alison,” said Judy.

    How to use the vocative comma

    Where you place the vocative comma depends on where the vocative expression lands in the sentence. 

    If the vocative expression starts the sentence, you need a comma after it (the vocative and its comma are in bold): 

    “Kate, bring me that file,” Alice ordered. 

    “Simone, is that your new bike?” Fred asked.

    If the vocative expression arrives at the end of the sentence, use the comma before the vocative. 

    “Give me my bag, you thief,” Ann said.

    “Where did you get that cool shirt, bro?” James asked.

    If the vocative expression is placed in the middle of the sentence, it needs commas before and after it. 

    “Well, Pete, you shouldn’t have fired that gun,” the policeman said.

    “Hello, darling, would you like a cup of tea?” Jenni offered.

    When does a vocative expression not need a comma?

    You don’t need a comma when the vocative expression is standing alone. Instead, you need a full stop, an exclamation mark, or a question mark. Here are some examples. 

    “Pete! The policeman told you to shoot!” cried Mark. 

    “Darling? Are you there?” Jenni called. 

    “You thief. Bring me that bag,” Anna snapped.

    Embracing the vocative comma

    It can be easy to miss this one when you’re in the flow of writing, and in many cases most people will understand what you mean when you fail to add a vocative comma. It’s not actually life or death!

    But, using the vocative comma is a good habit to get into. Firstly, using punctuation correctly makes for clearer sentences and a seamless experience for your reader, allowing them to fully immerse in your world. And secondly, if you’re working with an editor, getting these little details right will save them time and you money.

    So, keep the vocative comma in mind when you’re polishing your manuscript – and see if you save any lives while you’re at it.

  • Author interviews

    “I love to push limits in romance” – Natalie Murray on writing historical fiction, switching to contemporary romance, and how editing brings out her best

    Natalie Murray is an Australian author to watch. If you’re a fan of historical romance, you might already know her Emmie and the Tudor King series, which follows a young woman’s time slip into Tudor England and entanglement with a (fictional) fiery ruler. It’s swoon-worthy, passionate, transportive reading.

    Now, Natalie has returned to the present day with a contemporary romance novel set in Newcastle, NSW – where she now lives and where I grew up! – and I was so delighted to work with her on a structural edit for this manuscript late last year. Her best-friends-to-lovers story is heart-wrenching, funny and adorable in equal parts and I can’t wait till everyone else gets to read it too. In exciting news, that won’t be too long! Natalie’s contemporary romance has just been acquired by Allen & Unwin and is due to hit shelves in early 2024.

    Here, Natalie takes us through her journey from TV news reporter to author, the joys of writing both historical and contemporary fiction, her top advice for aspiring authors, and why the romance genre will always be her true love.

    Tell me about your journey to becoming an author. You have a background in journalism – what inspired you to make the leap to writing fiction? 

    I’ve always been a writer in some form, but until recently, it was only ever non-fiction. While I spent years writing news articles, business materials and blogs, I’d convinced myself I’d never attempt to write fiction, despite being a voracious reader. But when I was pregnant with my first child and at home feeling unwell, I began experimenting with writing short romance stories and immediately became hooked. When I published the stories online and received wonderful feedback from readers, I decided to try writing a full-length novel. I was watching the TV series The Tudors at the time, and having dreams about the Tudor period, so I decided to turn one of those dreams into a novel, which led to the first book in my Emmie and the Tudor King trilogy!

    Has your experience in writing for media helped you in writing books? Or is it an entirely different beast?

    I primarily worked as TV journalist, which requires you to ‘write to the pictures’ with as few words as possible – a very different process to describing a world for readers to imagine across tens of thousands of words. While plotting novels and character arcs bears little resemblance to anything I’ve worked on for the media, working as a journalist did teach me vital skills about the mechanics of writing and sentence structure and the importance of telling a good story and telling it quickly. So, there is probably more crossover than I think! Witnessing the idiosyncrasies of people and society as a reporter has also probably enriched my novels and characters in ways I don’t even realise.

    What do you love about writing love stories? 

    Oh gosh, what don’t I love! I’m an incurable romantic and never tire of perfecting a line of swoon-worthy dialogue or writing about the accidental brush of knuckles or the zing of a moment of direct eye contact. Every time I write a romance novel, I get to fall in love all over again, which is a high I’ll never stop chasing. While I’ve written fast-paced stories before with plenty of action, there’s something about the stillness of romance that I also love… of letting two characters shift into each other’s spaces and come to the realisation that each one is having a profound and life-changing impact on the other. It’s also great fun to write pages of romantic tension and then finally reach that explosive kiss or that confession that makes the reader’s heart beat harder. It’s also a genre that guarantees a happy and hopeful ending, so it feels like a safe space in which to escape.

    “Every time I write a romance novel, I get to fall in love all over again, which is a high I’ll never stop chasing.”

    Your first books are historical novels – what sparked your interest in Tudor England? 

    I’ve been captivated by the Tudor period for as long as I can remember, which is one of the most dramatic periods in British history. All you need to do is look at the Tudor family tree to see that this family was a hot mess of treason, love and betrayal. That said, I didn’t want to write another book about its established events or about Henry VIII’s wives or daughters. So, I decided to create a reimagined history in which Queen Elizabeth I married her rumoured lover Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester, and they had a son, Nicholas Tudor. My muse for this fictional king was probably the real Henry VIII in his younger years, who was not only ridiculously smart and talented but – according to reports – a total hottie. He was more than six feet tall, athletic, and known to be extremely handsome. My King Nick is part young Henry: charismatic, clever, and fiery to the end. It’s a fun story to lose yourself in!

    What funny or surprising details did you unearth while researching the period?

    There were plenty of surprising and funny tidbits, but I remember being quite amused to discover that water was considered unhealthy in Tudor times, so most people drank ale all day to stay hydrated – or wine if you were rich. One would assume the Tudors were permanently tipsy! That said, drunkenness was not tolerated, and there were punishments for alcohol abuse. If you were drunk in public and making a nuisance of yourself, you could be forced to wear a beer barrel as a form of humiliation, which was known as a ‘drunkard’s cloak’. You would be made to parade around inside a huge, heavy barrel with holes cut out for your head, legs and arms.

    Your next book is a contemporary romance, which I was thrilled to work on recently. What was it like moving into the contemporary genre? Do you think you’ll stay in the here and now or will historical romance come calling again? 

    Some of the Emmie and the Tudor King series is set in the present day, so I’d already played in the contemporary landscape and thoroughly enjoyed it. I never actually intended to become a historical romance author: I wanted to write a novel set in Tudor England that had the feel of a contemporary romance (a bit like a novel version of the TV series Reign). I always planned to move into the contemporary space once I’d finished the Tudor series and believed it would be easier because there is much less research involved. However, I was wrong! The Tudor setting provided so much immediate ‘story’ to work with… joustings, feastings, dances, the royal court – even beheadings. Writing contemporary romance means I’ve had to come up with 90,000 words of story and complications without that initial material to bounce off. I’m still not sure which is easier!

    Give us a teaser – how would you describe your upcoming contemporary romance book?

    I’m so excited about my next novel, which is a best-friends-to-lovers contemporary romance set in Australia! It’s a swoony and angsty story about love and friendship, loss, and finding the courage to follow your heart, even if it means facing your biggest fears. While offering plenty of sizzling romantic chemistry and light moments, the book explores the impacts of trauma and health anxiety in the era of ‘Doctor Google’ – something I have personally battled. Best-friends-to-lovers is my absolute favourite romance trope, so I have always wanted to “give it a crack”, as we Aussies like to say. In this one, you can expect slow-burn tension, forced proximity, ice-cream kisses, cute texting, and swoony confessions. After writing three books set in Tudor England, it’s been a joy to write a story set in my own backyard. And I just adore the male lead in this book, Ryan James. He is such a sweetheart.

    I know you have a really detailed process when it comes to writing a novel. How essential is working with an editor to your process? 

    I can’t imagine completing a book without an editor. Every time I’ve revised a novel after receiving feedback from an editor, I’m blown away at the improvement, and I always end up turning around and blurting to my husband: “It’s absolutely amazing what editors can do!” No matter how much careful thought I put into each book, how much plotting, or frantic revisions, I can only take it so far without the expert eyes of an editor to lift it to the next level. After working on multiple drafts of a full-length novel, it’s also easy to lose sight of both the bigger picture and the very small things that an editor will spot immediately. 

    “Editors have given me so many invaluable insights, like how to get more out of a theme, how to optimise the structure to ensure the climax hits at the right time and with the right degree of gut punch, when to boost the tension and when to pull it back, and the importance of character consistency.”

    Can you share any insight into lessons you’ve learned from the editing experience?

    I’ve become better at guessing what editors are going to pick me up on, so I tend to clean those up as I write in the hope that, one day, an editor will say to me: “It’s perfect! You don’t need to change a thing!” (In my dreams, haha.) Editors have given me so many invaluable insights, like how to get more out of a theme, how to optimise the structure to ensure the climax hits at the right time and with the right degree of gut punch, when to boost the tension and when to pull it back, and the importance of character consistency (which can be a tricky thing to get right). Sometimes I tend to overwrite and be a little heavy-handed, and you, Penny, have been particularly wonderful at shaving off superfluous language. Overall, I’ve learned from working with an editor that no matter how polished a novel is, it can always be better.

    What writing or editing rules do you love to break? 

    I love to push limits in romance. The overwhelming majority of readers who loved the Emmie and the Tudor King series said they adored the lead male character, Nick Tudor, but a few readers have complained about his fiery, egotistical nature. But I was creating the character of a sixteenth-century Tudor king, and I wanted him to be authentic. So, I set out never to compromise on his personality or soften him to make him more palatable to a twenty-first-century audience. I also probably use too many adverbs and adjectives and insert a touch too much emotion into my writing at times, but that’s because these are things I love as a reader. My favourite author is Paullina Simons because she doesn’t hold back on angst and emotion. I love and need the ‘happily ever after’ in romance, but before I get there, I want to be kicked in the heart. Probably because it makes the make-up kiss that much sweeter!

    “I love and need the ‘happily ever after’ in romance, but before I get there, I want to be kicked in the heart. Probably because it makes the make-up kiss that much sweeter!”

    What advice can you offer other aspiring authors? 

    Still on editing, I think it’s important for aspiring authors to remember that editors are on your team. The first few editor comments you receive can feel like criticism, but it’s not in a disapproving way; it’s because they’re fighting for you to create the best story you can. On writing overall, my main advice to authors is to finish the damn book. When you start writing your first novel, it is far too easy to give up. It’s a tough, gruelling process that can take years, and when no one is paying you a cent, no one is reading a word of it, and the couch is whispering your name, the urge to just walk away can be overwhelming. But the only way a book is written is that it’s written… one word, one sentence, one day at a time. There’s no shortcut. But if you just keep going, you will reach the end, and then you’ll have a full draft to go back and begin editing, which is when the magic happens and the fun begins. So, don’t be discouraged if your first draft isn’t as polished as you’d imagined. My first drafts are almost unreadable. But just finish the damn book, and then you can go back and fix it, which is a deeply enjoyable part of the process and easier than writing that first draft. 

    That’s excellent advice and I couldn’t agree more! Finally, what’s next for you? What are you working on now? 

    I’ve just finished plotting my next Australian contemporary romance, which features the tropes of grumpy-meets-sunshine and fake dating (with a twist). I can’t wait to start writing it! And I’m hugely excited to have nearly finished my first contemporary romance co-written with US author Jenny Hickman, which is called Hating the Best Man, which will be out in spring 2023. Jenny and I have fantastic writing chemistry and the same taste in all things romance, and I can’t wait for us to work on more books together. This is only the beginning.

    For more about Natalie’s books, follow her on Instagram @nataliemurrayauthor or visit her website.