Top Ten Reasons Your Story Isn't Selling

1)      Not enough happens.

2)      There’s nothing unique enough about your premise, plot, or protagonist to set your story apart from what's already out there.

3)      The prose is dense and inaccessible.

4)      Your story is not grounded in setting.

5)      The protagonist is not likable or admirable and readers can’t relate to him/her.

6)      You don’t show, you tell.

7)      The beginning is too slow, the middle is too boring, and the ending is too rushed.

8)      The dialogue doesn’t sound like real people.

9)       The story is not told in a strong voice.

10)   The protagonist does not drive the action and/or change enough over the course of the story.

The 90,000-word Sweet Spot

Right now, when it comes to word count, it's all about 90,000 words. Virtually every book I try to shop by a debut author that's any longer than that--regardless of category--receives the same response from editors. In short, it's just too long. "No more than 90,000 words" seems to be the editor's mantra these days. So I've asked several of my clients shorten their stories--and am happy to say that we've won contracts when I shopped the shortened versions, often to the same editors who complained about the length of the original stories.

How to reach that 90,000-word sweet spot? Here's a neat trick I came up with that's proved useful for my clients and that may work for you as well.

Here's how 90,000 words (which is 360 pages at 250 words per page) breaks down by act:

Act One: 90 pages (22,500 words)

Act Two: 180 pages (45,000 words)

Act Three: 90 pages (22,500 words)

With that in mind, write out your  basic storyline in Major Plot Points only: Inciting Incident, Plot Point 1, Mid-Point, Plot Point 2, Denouement.  (If you need more information on plot points, take a look at my book Plot Perfect. )

Now, using the word counts by act as a general guideline, cut anything you can cut to the word counts outlined above. Anything that does not get you from plot point to plot point MUST GO.

Happy cutting!

Copyright Paula Munier 2014

The Write Gifts for 2015 (And They’re All Free!)

The most common New Year’s resolution for writers: Write that novel.

But before you start (or finish), give yourself a break, and give yourself the three things you’ll need most to keep that resolution:

1)      TIME. Time is the writer’s most important—and neglected—asset. Use it wisely—and generously. No matter how busy you are, you can find the time to write most every day. Whether it’s thirty minutes at dawn or your lunchtime at work or 90 minutes at night after the kids go to bed, making the time to write is your first gift to your creative self.

2)      SPACE. For your inner writer, writing is a sacred act—and so you create a sacred space in which to do it. Dedicate a studio, a guest room, even a corner of your den to your work—and equip it with the tools and talismans that will inspire you to write every day.

3)   PERMISSION TO PLAY. Remember, the resolutions we keep are the ones we learn—sooner rather than later—to enjoy. So allow yourself to have fun.

Happy writing in 2015! May all your fictive dreams come true.