Need help with your novel? Have a question about writing great characters, plotting your novel, outlining, or finding your voice? My videos aim to answer common novel writing questions.
About Me
I am a professional freelance editor with ten years of experience. I started editing full time in 2011 and began working shortly after as an editor with Musa Publishing where I was quickly promoted to head editor of Musa's middle grade imprint. I left Musa in 2012 to freelance full time. Since then I have worked with about 150 writers per year as an editor, writing coach, and plot consultant.
My clients are represented at a number of agencies, including The Unter Agency, Irene Goodman Literary Agency, and Upstart Crow Literary. My clients have published with Katherine Tegen Books, The Wild Rose Press, and many have launched successful self-publishing careers.
If you would like to get in touch, please visit my website: ellenbrockediting.com/
I've been editing my book for two years now. Every page is covered in red ink (the revised first draft). I've have no direction, just running off of "well that feels funny so what do I do?" I was completely lost in the process, second guessing myself about every edit. "Am I getting rid of essential information? Am I cutting meaningful character development? Am I taking out unnecessary detail? Am I taking a layer away from the story?" This video has helped me find the ground again. Thank you so much!!
Thank you, this video is extremely helpful to me as a new author. My debut novel fell flat and I think a big part of the reason is that I failed to make the story character driven. I appreciate this insight and I plan on using it in my next novel.
About intuition, it sounds to me a bit like having a trained palate when you're a chef or a trained ear for tunings as a musician. The process is faster than formal analysis, but can be reverse engineered if needed. In other words, intuitives can explain (especially when older or more experienced) why something does or does not work if necessary even if they do not use that level of analysis initially. In other words, I suspect "intuition" can be learned over time through study, reading, editing of one's own writing and analysis of others' works.
Thank you! I'm listening because I was stuck in writing at beyond the midpoint and switching between listening and working on my outline gave me some hints at problems as well as new, better ideas for filling in the coming plot points of my skeleton outline. Thank you!!
Thanks for this video--I think you're spot on by saying this is the key and sadly it's missing from most writing advice about writing emotions that focuses on the physical only.
Why is speaking about my real-life experiences easier than putting it into words? I struggle to write anything sensible on paper. Could it be that I want to write and edit simultaneously or maybe it's just OCD? Ellen, your editing skills is remarkable. I admire you.
I wrapped up my first editorial development edit using this video as a guide. I tweaked the structure slightly. My initial draft was lean by design, focusing on crucial scenes. This meant there were no unnecessary scenes, but it had its fair share of other issues. Anyway, I'm really excited about the results from this review pass. The high-level overview provided solutions that weren't feasible at a scene level. By making significant changes before diving into line editing, I was able to address problems in the rough draft that I wasn't particularly attached to. Now, I'm preparing for review two and can't wait for it. Thanks, Ellen!
I have been doing a ton of watching RU-vid videos to prepare myself for writing my book, but this has TRULY been the first video that has actually helped. Most people just say things that don’t really mean anything for content, but your explanations and examples really made me understand the concepts you were describing. Thank you so much!!!
I write middle grade and in my latest book--still not published--is called "Ice" about two children who go into the woods and find themselves in the Ice age. My main Character is a ten-year-old girl called Camilla. I never had a clear visual image of her. I know that she has long blonde hair and she is slim. That changed when I walked into a shop one day to buy something and a girl of the same age walked in and she had the same long blonde hair and she looked like Camilla. Only now can I visualise her. I guess that most writers do it the other way around. They see someone and build the description around them. I haven't yet seen a boy who looks like the other main character Tyler who is obese and not at all a good looking kid like Camilla is.
For example, in a fairy tale, character is musician, witnesses and experinces poverty in his village and is disillusioned with world where he lives, he lost his place in orchestra and wants to give up on music and hates the world for being the way it is. So, he is lured into corruptive arc by a villain who promises him a great cash if he makes a tune for party, like, new source of income, so he is thrilled with luxurios lifestyle, but he finds out in the middle that villain lures villagers into trap and uses him for his evil deeds, so, he decides to be a good guy again, but faces difficulties because he chased his friends and acted as a real bad guy. He was tricked and is a bit villanous, but not that much, so, it would require a change from midpoint and change in character description. He wants his chance to live normal life again if possible and go back to making music that will inspire others, but is under pressure of guilt and shame
Are there more complex arc versions? For some stories there are more complex moral issues that probably require different arc, or different outcome for characters. I am most probably over-complicating, but it seems that in some stories arcs should have been more changeable or different.
I started writing a novel more than two years ago. I had dropped it a year and a half ago and just picked it back up. It's definitely a scary task, editing it, cause one, it's not finished, but even bigger is the fact that i started writing it by bouncing between the second half of the story and then to the first and then back. And with over 140 pages and over 40 chapters, it's hard to figure out where everything goes now.
Some of these rules can easily be broken, f.e. spooky house entering can be long, if the characters are unsuspecting about the house and viewer knows it, so it can be great source of suspense. Or it can be long in comedy, where character is completely oblivios to the fact that there are ghosts and things are not quite allright. Maybe this one not, but a twist in genre is possible, where spooky things start to happen later in haunted house when characters already moved in, in a form of psychological thriller. Just a couple of ideas, but probably some of rules changed would be fun to see for a change in some trope saturated movie/book genres
Some schools/books do differ in approach, and it is confusing after reading more approaches to choose the best or find the mix. Excellent videos I do enjoy watching and listening. Helped a lot
I used to write a lot but took a break for a couple of years. I'm considerably rusty and I'm trying to not let that get the best of me. Something that I've always struggled with was starting a sentence. I always fret over how I start my sentences to the point where it bogs me down to try and force changes, which makes my writing feel stagnant and bland? I wrote down all the tips you shared, and I'm going to focus on utilizing them to improve my work. Great video
I was just about to ask this question. I'm writing a series but not exactly. Think Sherlock Holmes or Fr. Brown, but then some theme to hold it together as one whole. As I am a discovery writer and have no idea how many books could evolve from this, the question of the character arc building through the novels was on my mind quite a bit. Good advice as always, Ellen!
Thank you so much for this video, it’s helped me immensely! I knew I was a plotter, but I kept hitting a brick wall in terms of the Excel sheets, plot points and beat sheets I was supposed to make. I personally found them, just as you say ‘ugly and uninspiring’. I had no idea plotting could be done differently. Frustration set in as I knew I had a story to tell, but it just wouldn’t surface beyond a certain point. Little did I know story structures can be intuitive! Your advice to use multiple apps/writing tools at once was so helpful as well. I now have a set of apps I use, depending on my mood and the kind of ideas I have - based on music, pictures, words and more - and it works super well. Thanks so much, all your videos are amazing!
I'm so glad you found a method that is working for you! Thank you so much for your support and for letting me know about your success. It means so much!
Oh my god, you SAW me with this video. Thank you so much for your insightful advice. It's so much better, more tailored and helpful that anything else I've ever seen and I can really see some of these tips adding value to my process.
I used to have this problem until i started plotting. Now I don't have a problem with the writing. I just keep changing the outline while I plot/write. I feel like it might mess up my whole draft so I'm here waiting for me to figure out what i want in the scenes lol. I know the answer to my problem, I'm just ignoring it for now because I'm frustrated.
13:42 Unorganized mess as if opossed to organized mess? I can imagine using that as sarcasm, but here I would through it away. It was a mess. The simpler the better
I struggle so much with figuring out what type I am, but I feel I am a methodological panther. I get spurts of brilliant ideas that keep naturally building on itself, but then I am on empty, and I can’t do anything with it or even get more “juice” until I set the ideas into their “proper” spot like a puzzle. Pretty anal. I definitely have a very hard time of NOT editing as I go and NOT making and using templates. I do obsessively think in “components” from the acts, to the percentage where the inciting incident, 1st plot point etc. all the way down to the different types of story beats. I am a little OCD. Feel like it is both a hindrance and a goldmine (when it doesn’t paralyze me).
