Category Archives: writing

Some Notes on Revising a Manuscript: Refining the Prose

Posted on April 22, 2009 by Victoria Janssen

Some Notes on Revising a Manuscript: Refining the Prose Refining the prose is best saved for last; you don’t want to spend time polishing something that will later be cut. If any words don’t support the plot or characterization or … Continue reading →

Posted in writing, writing craft, writing process | 1 Comment

Some Notes on Revising a Manuscript: Coherence and Storytelling

Posted on April 21, 2009 by Victoria Janssen

Some Notes on Revising a Manuscript: Coherence and Storytelling On a first read of a completed manuscript, it’s a good time to check for overall coherence and storytelling. Check for skipped time and space. It helps the reader if you … Continue reading →

Posted in writing, writing craft, writing process | 2 Comments

Gene Wolfe quote, from The Sword of the Lictor, and a lamp

Posted on April 1, 2009 by Victoria Janssen

The image accompanying this post is a lamp from a hotel room in which I stayed recently. It requires no further comment, I hope. I find this quote to be so very, very true: “I have noticed that in books … Continue reading →

Posted in quotes, writing | Comments Off on Gene Wolfe quote, from The Sword of the Lictor, and a lamp

The Art of Letting Go – Finishing the Novel

Posted on March 3, 2009 by Victoria Janssen

When is it time to stop working on a manuscript? I might as well say now, this post is going to be one of my least concrete. Last week, February 26, I turned in The Moonlight Mistress. I’d turned in … Continue reading →

Posted in writing, writing craft, writing process | Comments Off on The Art of Letting Go – Finishing the Novel

Making Stories Stand Out

Posted on February 12, 2009 by Victoria Janssen

Be Different. Be. Different. I was talking about experimentation and difference in the last post. I think my attention to difference is one of the reasons I manage to sell stories consistently. Erotica stories, by their nature, are somewhat the … Continue reading →

Posted in business of writing, short fiction, writing, writing craft | 4 Comments

The Tale of an Erotica Writer

Posted on February 12, 2009 by Victoria Janssen

How did it begin, that I became a writer of erotica? I sent my first story, “Water Music,” off to an anthology edited by Mary Anne Mohanraj called Aqua Erotica. Alas, it did not sell. Later, when I saw the … Continue reading →

Posted in business of writing, erotica, writing | Comments Off on The Tale of an Erotica Writer