A lot of questions regarding writing a strong climax, the amount of description one should include, difficult scenes, pacing, etc. can be answered by reading more. By that I mean reading high quality fiction that can provide examples of excellent storytelling and craft. You can't go wrong browsing contemporary reads, finding books that intrigue you as a reader, and reading in a critical way (pay attention to pace, climax, what is described and what is left out, how difficult scenes are selected and conveyed and why/where they've been included, etc.) so you perceive not as a reader but as a writer critiquing the work of peers. Keep reading and you will find certain books are not for you, some are pretty good but flawed (read carefully to learn what works and what doesn't), and a few are *chef's kiss*. Don't only read the classics. And don't skip out on reading; writers must make time to read and learn. From that, you'll learn so much and be able to answer many writing questions. Best of luck to everyone.
If you want some really good advice when it comes to writing a climax, the best climaxes are those where all of the unresolved plot points/Chekhov's guns come together and are all fired at once in a satisfying and rewarding way, or in more specific terms, the story reaches it's thematic message at the climax as a result of the previous groundwork. Great pieces of media that I would recommend people look at on how to write great climaxes would be FMAB, Breaking Bad, and Lord of the Rings.
I love your videos, Alyssa! I'm about halfway done with my debut science fiction novel. The best comment I heard you make was, "New authors think writing the complete first draft is the hard part. That's incorrect. Once you have your first draft in hand, that's when the real work begins." Wow, absolutely true.
I love your videos. I have a question I’d love answered: As an aspiring YA author with social media anxiety, is it possible to find success without being plastered all over socials?
I've been a prolific writer since I was 12 years old - I'm currently at over 1,000 songs, over a dozen musicals, dozens of stage shows, two operas, dozens of screenplays, thousands of articles, hundreds of book manuscripts and I have over 100,000 views on my uploaded educational videos - which the result of decades of research - in dozens of languages from all across our Earth. I recently set over 200 of my videos offline - because youtube was threatening me and had already destroyed one of my videos. I've been at this "work" for over 50 years - living on next to nothing for most of my life - mostly dead with a terminal prognosis from dozens of doctors.
Thanks for all the helpful tips, Alyssa! Two questions for you on the topic of querying. First, if an agent gives a number of pages but no other specifications, should authors always assume 12 pt. Times New Roman double-spaced font? Second, I've heard a lot of horror stories about how agents rarely look at the slush pile. Is that true? Do agents really get almost all of their manuscripts by referral? Thank you for any & all advice on this topic!
Hi, Alyssa! Question here: I am a couple steps away from querying for the first time with my YA portal fantasy novel. I have already written my query letter, and I am happy with every part of it…except for the comps. I have found a few narratives in my same genre as possible comps, but most of them are older (5-6) years old and PERFECTLY compare to my book. However, I am afraid that using the older comps that just feel right for my novel might turn off literary agents. Should I settle for newer comps that don’t represent my story as much, or use the older ones that better compare? Thank you!
When people criticize X, it comes off as that person cant handle there being different opinions and not being able to handle criticism, which for an aspiring author is a big problem because you will get negative feedback and criticism on your writing. Life's hard; wear a helmet.
Hi Alyssa! I stumbled upon your video about head-hopping and it was SO enlightening and now I'm deep-diving through your vids and have subbed! One thing I'm really worried about as I'm editing my book is over-using scene breaks in the few instances where I REALLY think multiple POV characters' inner thoughts are necessary to make the point land. Should I err on the side of caution and just make the transitions to a new thinker as clear as possible? Or, are the multiple scene breaks worth looking a little jarring? Thanks!
Hi. I've been following you for a long time, and you keep me motivated! My question is about my fear... Running out of literary agents. Is this something that might happen? Can I resubmit to the same agency, but a different agent? Thanks
Hiya, Ms. Matesic (sorry, Southern girl tendencies die hard)! Thank you for all your hard work in demystifying the publishing industry. Everything I know about it can be credited to you, and I can't say enough how valuable and irreplaceable your insights are. Thank you.
Thank you so much for your content, Alyssa! I have written a novella which I am now expanding into a contemporary novel. My mother tongue is Portuguese so I am writing it in this language. I am also a linguist and work in the translation field however I had my first work translated into English using a professional translator whose mother tongue is English. How is the market for translated books? Should I try to publish my book in my mother tongue and hope my publisher publishes my novel in another language? I live in the UK and my publishing focus is here and the US. Thank you very much ❤
After watching another one of your videos, you recommended going to the Good Reads website and looking at the debut authors. The thing I noticed was 16 of the 19 (or so) authors were women. Are publishers predominantly looking for women? As a man, am I at a disadvantage for trying to get my first book published?
Hi Alyssa, I'm a 4th year college student majoring in editing and publishing. I've been trying to work on my skills with developmental editing, since I find myself struggling to identify if a character or plot element should be cut from a story or if an author can realistically redesign things to make them work. Typically, these characters/plot elements aren't extraneous to the plot, and otherwise are well-established, but also don't quite cohere with everything else. Do you have any advice for how to handle those situations, and any suggestions for resources that can help with honing developmental editing skills? Thanks for your videos and your newsletter--I've appreciated your insights into both publishing and the editorial process as I figure out how to fully transition from the academic world into the business world.
I love your videos so much!!! Your advice is so solid and it's so easy to see that you have tons of advice in the writing field. Thank you so much for blessing us with your wisdom. A question I was thinking about is, how can you tell when your craft is solid enough to enter the publishing world and start querying? I've been writing for almost four years and am on the brink of finishing my second novel, but I don't think my books are good enough to get published yet... I've heard some people say that you should write six novels before starting to publish, or write for a certain amount of years. Do you have any thoughts or guidelines you'd recommend?
Hi, you are very helpful, thanks! The book i want to write is about a spy- sci-fi/alien- mystery and supernatural kind of book!( i don't know how i am going to achieve all of that yet but i am positive😅)I have a question: can someone add more than one adventures for the heroe team of their book? I mean something like different episodes in a series in one season ,if we can do the same for the book!( 4 or 5 adventures, for example in the first book?) Adventures that will help the characters to bond with each other and form a big and nice story! In order to help the reader understand more the characters and also their reaction in different circumstances as a team! I don't know if that makes sense! I haven't start writing a book (mainly because i don't know how haha😅😓😢) but i really want to and i am looking forward to! ( and of course after i finish high school because i really don't have time and i am in the last year,) but i cannot stop thinking about the book i want to write. Ok, maybe i don't know how to write it ,...yet! But i have a lot of ideas i want to use in the first book in order to create a good story! I really need to know if a can add more than one adventures in the first book like i said before! What do you say?
This is probably a question that'll answer itself but here goes. I'm a first time author wrapping up my edits to my first draft. When querying out to agents should I greet them and signature with my real name or my pen name? With my common sense tingling I'm going to safely presume my real name.
Kind of a question question. Maybe my mind is clouded by it but today I got a rejection from an agent who I thought would say YES after her last response. Last year, she said that she loved everything about my book but thought the magic in my YA fantasy wasn't explained well enough and had too much verbal exposition. I have addressed these issues by getting a new editor and betas and resubmitted. Finally she responded, and even addressed that she appreciated the changes I've made, but can't connect to the story as she hoped she would. I feel like being smacked in the face, as she was the only agent who bothered to give me a personal response, after I addressed these concerns. Is there a reason an agent would say such a thing?
Hi Alyssa, months-long listener, first time asking a question-a debate actually, between myself and another writer friend: when querying an agent, and said agent is requesting us to submit a bio, do we write the bio in first or third person perspective? I say first person, but my friend says third.
Hi Alyssa, Three people have read my first draft and all given the same feedback. They say they would like to see more detail included in the narrative to slow it down. I was conscious of keeping the pace up so as not to bore people, but I get it. Is the reverse outline a good way to remedy this, or is there another technique that would work better? Thank you!
Hi Alyssa, I love your channel and would love to know: can we traditionally publish more than one genre under the same name or do agents ask you to have a pen name for different genres than your debut’s?
Such a great video. Thank you. Currently, I'm working on line/sentence structure editing of my YA fantasy adventure. ***sigh*** Slow process. Have a great day, everyone.
I love that POV of climax advice - I think a lot of people try to be super melodramatic (e.g. explosions) rather than emotionally dramatic in their big finales
Hi Alyssa, your advice for writing a strong climax by focusing on the POV character’s internal life was exactly what I needed. I’ve been letting the climax of my second book intimidate me for ages, and your advice inspired me. Thank you for everything you do for us, Alyssa! ❤
Thank you, it's strange for me that now I have a waiting game of 6-12 weeks, it's a long time to wonder if your manuscript is considered any good.... It's a nervy time.
A lot of questions regarding writing a strong climax, the amount of description one should include, difficult scenes, pacing, etc. can be answered by reading more. By that I mean reading high quality fiction that can provide examples of excellent storytelling and craft. You can't go wrong browsing contemporary reads, finding books that intrigue you as a reader, and reading in a critical way (pay attention to pace, climax, what is described and what is left out, how difficult scenes are selected and conveyed and why/where they've been included, etc.) so you perceive not as a reader but as a writer critiquing the work of peers. Keep reading and you will find certain books are not for you, some are pretty good but flawed (read carefully to learn what works and what doesn't), and a few are *chef's kiss*. Don't only read the classics. And don't skip out on reading; writers must make time to read and learn. From that, you'll learn so much and be able to answer many writing questions. Best of luck to everyone.
If you want some really good advice when it comes to writing a climax, the best climaxes are those where all of the unresolved plot points/Chekhov's guns come together and are all fired at once in a satisfying and rewarding way, or in more specific terms, the story reaches it's thematic message at the climax as a result of the previous groundwork.
Great pieces of media that I would recommend people look at on how to write great climaxes would be FMAB, Breaking Bad, and Lord of the Rings.
I love your videos, Alyssa! I'm about halfway done with my debut science fiction novel. The best comment I heard you make was, "New authors think writing the complete first draft is the hard part. That's incorrect. Once you have your first draft in hand, that's when the real work begins." Wow, absolutely true.
Fellow sci fi writer here, you are so right about the hard work that happens after the first draft is finished!
It's also hard getting a good beta reader. People ask for sample chapters, etc., but I never hear back or any comments. @@AFringedGentian
I love your videos. I have a question I’d love answered: As an aspiring YA author with social media anxiety, is it possible to find success without being plastered all over socials?
I've been a prolific writer since I was 12 years old - I'm currently at over 1,000 songs, over a dozen musicals, dozens of stage shows, two operas, dozens of screenplays, thousands of articles, hundreds of book manuscripts and I have over 100,000 views on my uploaded educational videos - which the result of decades of research - in dozens of languages from all across our Earth.
I recently set over 200 of my videos offline - because youtube was threatening me and had already destroyed one of my videos.
I've been at this "work" for over 50 years - living on next to nothing for most of my life - mostly dead with a terminal prognosis from dozens of doctors.
Thanks for all the helpful tips, Alyssa! Two questions for you on the topic of querying. First, if an agent gives a number of pages but no other specifications, should authors always assume 12 pt. Times New Roman double-spaced font? Second, I've heard a lot of horror stories about how agents rarely look at the slush pile. Is that true? Do agents really get almost all of their manuscripts by referral? Thank you for any & all advice on this topic!
I quit X and will probably not go back.
Hi, Alyssa! Question here:
I am a couple steps away from querying for the first time with my YA portal fantasy novel. I have already written my query letter, and I am happy with every part of it…except for the comps. I have found a few narratives in my same genre as possible comps, but most of them are older (5-6) years old and PERFECTLY compare to my book. However, I am afraid that using the older comps that just feel right for my novel might turn off literary agents. Should I settle for newer comps that don’t represent my story as much, or use the older ones that better compare? Thank you!
When people criticize X, it comes off as that person cant handle there being different opinions and not being able to handle criticism, which for an aspiring author is a big problem because you will get negative feedback and criticism on your writing.
Life's hard; wear a helmet.
Good point.
Hi Alyssa! I stumbled upon your video about head-hopping and it was SO enlightening and now I'm deep-diving through your vids and have subbed!
One thing I'm really worried about as I'm editing my book is over-using scene breaks in the few instances where I REALLY think multiple POV characters' inner thoughts are necessary to make the point land. Should I err on the side of caution and just make the transitions to a new thinker as clear as possible? Or, are the multiple scene breaks worth looking a little jarring?
Thanks!
Hi. I've been following you for a long time, and you keep me motivated!
My question is about my fear... Running out of literary agents. Is this something that might happen? Can I resubmit to the same agency, but a different agent?
Thanks
Hiya, Ms. Matesic (sorry, Southern girl tendencies die hard)! Thank you for all your hard work in demystifying the publishing industry. Everything I know about it can be credited to you, and I can't say enough how valuable and irreplaceable your insights are. Thank you.
Thank you so much for your content, Alyssa! I have written a novella which I am now expanding into a contemporary novel. My mother tongue is Portuguese so I am writing it in this language. I am also a linguist and work in the translation field however I had my first work translated into English using a professional translator whose mother tongue is English. How is the market for translated books? Should I try to publish my book in my mother tongue and hope my publisher publishes my novel in another language? I live in the UK and my publishing focus is here and the US. Thank you very much ❤
After watching another one of your videos, you recommended going to the Good Reads website and looking at the debut authors. The thing I noticed was 16 of the 19 (or so) authors were women. Are publishers predominantly looking for women? As a man, am I at a disadvantage for trying to get my first book published?
Hi Alyssa, I'm a 4th year college student majoring in editing and publishing.
I've been trying to work on my skills with developmental editing, since I find myself struggling to identify if a character or plot element should be cut from a story or if an author can realistically redesign things to make them work. Typically, these characters/plot elements aren't extraneous to the plot, and otherwise are well-established, but also don't quite cohere with everything else.
Do you have any advice for how to handle those situations, and any suggestions for resources that can help with honing developmental editing skills?
Thanks for your videos and your newsletter--I've appreciated your insights into both publishing and the editorial process as I figure out how to fully transition from the academic world into the business world.
I love your videos so much!!! Your advice is so solid and it's so easy to see that you have tons of advice in the writing field. Thank you so much for blessing us with your wisdom.
A question I was thinking about is, how can you tell when your craft is solid enough to enter the publishing world and start querying? I've been writing for almost four years and am on the brink of finishing my second novel, but I don't think my books are good enough to get published yet... I've heard some people say that you should write six novels before starting to publish, or write for a certain amount of years. Do you have any thoughts or guidelines you'd recommend?
Hi, you are very helpful, thanks! The book i want to write is about a spy- sci-fi/alien- mystery and supernatural kind of book!( i don't know how i am going to achieve all of that yet but i am positive😅)I have a question: can someone add more than one adventures for the heroe team of their book? I mean something like different episodes in a series in one season ,if we can do the same for the book!( 4 or 5 adventures, for example in the first book?) Adventures that will help the characters to bond with each other and form a big and nice story! In order to help the reader understand more the characters and also their reaction in different circumstances as a team! I don't know if that makes sense! I haven't start writing a book (mainly because i don't know how haha😅😓😢) but i really want to and i am looking forward to! ( and of course after i finish high school because i really don't have time and i am in the last year,) but i cannot stop thinking about the book i want to write. Ok, maybe i don't know how to write it ,...yet! But i have a lot of ideas i want to use in the first book in order to create a good story! I really need to know if a can add more than one adventures in the first book like i said before! What do you say?
This is probably a question that'll answer itself but here goes.
I'm a first time author wrapping up my edits to my first draft. When querying out to agents should I greet them and signature with my real name or my pen name? With my common sense tingling I'm going to safely presume my real name.
Kind of a question question.
Maybe my mind is clouded by it but today I got a rejection from an agent who I thought would say YES after her last response. Last year, she said that she loved everything about my book but thought the magic in my YA fantasy wasn't explained well enough and had too much verbal exposition. I have addressed these issues by getting a new editor and betas and resubmitted. Finally she responded, and even addressed that she appreciated the changes I've made, but can't connect to the story as she hoped she would.
I feel like being smacked in the face, as she was the only agent who bothered to give me a personal response, after I addressed these concerns. Is there a reason an agent would say such a thing?
Hi Alyssa, months-long listener, first time asking a question-a debate actually, between myself and another writer friend: when querying an agent, and said agent is requesting us to submit a bio, do we write the bio in first or third person perspective? I say first person, but my friend says third.
Hi Alyssa, Three people have read my first draft and all given the same feedback. They say they would like to see more detail included in the narrative to slow it down. I was conscious of keeping the pace up so as not to bore people, but I get it. Is the reverse outline a good way to remedy this, or is there another technique that would work better? Thank you!
Hi Alyssa, I love your channel and would love to know: can we traditionally publish more than one genre under the same name or do agents ask you to have a pen name for different genres than your debut’s?
Have you ever talked about your fave books of all time? ✌🏽
Me trying to determine if I have a dirty mind or if the 13 entendres in response to the first question were intentional...
Alyssa's content has been on fire lately. 🔥🔥🔥
Thank you so much! ☺️
great video! very informative, i've been struggling alot with my descriptions lately.
Glad it was helpful!
Such a great video. Thank you. Currently, I'm working on line/sentence structure editing of my YA fantasy adventure. ***sigh*** Slow process. Have a great day, everyone.
Glad you enjoyed it! Good luck with your revisions!
I like how she says “climax” 😜
🐢
❤
Look forward to these every week 😊😊😊
This is so helpful for me right now! I am editing my 7th book and I just read my climax and was thinking, wow, that’s weak! 😂😂 Thanks for the tips!
I love that POV of climax advice - I think a lot of people try to be super melodramatic (e.g. explosions) rather than emotionally dramatic in their big finales
Hi Alyssa, your advice for writing a strong climax by focusing on the POV character’s internal life was exactly what I needed. I’ve been letting the climax of my second book intimidate me for ages, and your advice inspired me. Thank you for everything you do for us, Alyssa! ❤
I'm so glad you found it helpful! Thanks for commenting!
I love your videos❤
They are helping me with my writing journey😊
So glad you're finding them helpful! Thanks for commenting :)
I LOVEYOUR VIDEOS
3:07 thank you so much!
Just sending query letters this week...😁 Love your videos
Best of luck with querying!
Thank you, it's strange for me that now I have a waiting game of 6-12 weeks, it's a long time to wonder if your manuscript is considered any good.... It's a nervy time.
Man! Good looking and smart!!!😉
I went through 14 drafts before submitting to my agent!
Thank you for this video, Alyssa, AAA is always so helpful!