Describe what’s in Front of You, Not what’s in the Rear-view Mirror – Inventing Reality’s Newsletter for Oct. 6, 2026

Craft of Writing: Describe what’s in Front of You, Not what’s in the Rear-view Mirror
When writing action scenes, avoiding rear-view mirror descriptions typically is a good idea. In such a description, an object is described only after it’s been part of the action. READ MORE

“7 Minutes a Day…” Series Now on Audiobook!
Need to fill up some driving time or need something to listen to when folding laundry? The four books in my “7 Minutes a Day…” series for indie authors are now all available as audiobooks! There’s a book each on writing a novel, the craft of writing, the self-publishing process, and marketing your book. SEE BOOKS

Writing Tip: Interesting Dialogue Moves Your Story Forward
When writing fiction, every sentence should move the story forward. To do that, characters must work toward achieving their goals. Your story then is about how well they accomplish their goals. For much of the story, they’ll fail to achieve their goals, either because of their own personal flaws or because they’ve been thwarted by a character who has other objectives. Often the reason dialogue is flat and dull is because it’s not fulfilling this storytelling requirement. Such dialogue is filler and often pointless. READ MORE

Self-Publishing Tip: Don’t Get Hung Up on Watching Book Sales Stats
Whenever you self publish a book, you’ll have the opportunity to track sales, or see how many books you’ve sold. You may have to go to a couple of different web pages to do this, though, if you sell a book at both KindleDP and Draft2Digital. Be aware of where these pages are and check them out – but don’t obsess over the numbers. READ MORE

This Week’s Podcast: Avoid Stalling as Approaching Crucial Event
One common plotting problem novice writers experience, especially in the first draft, is that of stalling. LISTEN TO PODCAST

Book Marketing Tip: Get Pullquotes on Your Amazon.com Page
To aid readers and authors alike, Amazon.com sometimes will add a set of three quotations, pulled from your reviews, to the top of the list of customer reviews. So how do you Amazon to do that for your book? READ MORE

Client Spotlight: “Irish Jesus of Fairview” by Sammy Juliano
A couple of year ago, I had the pleasure of editing Sammy Juliano’s debut novel, Irish Jesus of Fairview. Set in 1950s-1960s New Jersey suburbs, a nocturnal assault tests the familial bonds of three brothers. Sammy has a sequel coming out in a just a few weeks, so check out the first in the series to get the whole story! CHECK IT OUT

$25 Off Your Next Edit!
For being a newsletter subscriber, please take $25 off your next edit with Inventing Reality Editing Service. When scheduling your edit, be sure to mention you’re a subscriber and give the email where you received this newsletter. Minimum order of $200. Offer expires Oct. 13, 2026. SCHEDULE EDIT

My name is Rob Bignell. I’m an affordable, professional editor who runs Inventing Reality Editing Service, which meets the manuscript needs of both aspiring and published writers and offers a variety of self-publishing services. During the past 15 years, I’ve helped more than 425 novelists and nonfiction authors obtain their publishing dreams at reasonable prices. I’m also the author of a novel, the Storytelling 101 Quick Read series, four children’s books, more than 25 bestselling hiking guidebooks, and even a book of poetry. Several of my short stories in the literary and science fiction genres also have been published.