Craft of Writing: Layer Imagery with Symbolic Meaning
Descriptions and imagery can carry additional levels of meaning by being presented as figurative language. Such wording compares two items, usually by giving one symbolic meaning. Such connotations can carry great emotional weight. READ MORE
How to Master the Craft of Writing
You’ve written a short story or a novel. You keep receiving rejection slips from editors and publishing houses … and now you’re not sure it’s good enough to self-publish. You know the story needs a rewrite, yet you don’t know how to improve it … besides, work or school is hectic, the house needs to be cleaned, and the kids demand your attention, so who has time? … But we bet you can find just 7 minutes a day to achieve your dream of getting that story published. If you can, 7 Minutes a Day to Mastering the Craft of Writing is the book for you. This practical, how-to guide will take you step-by-step through improving your story and fiction writing skills – with just 7 minutes of work required a day. You’ll complete short, skillful exercises that allow you to rewrite your novel or short story as you read this book, all the while getting the encouragement and motivation needed to keep you going. SEE BOOK.
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. 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: Do You Need Extra Services a Publisher Offers?
As you go through the self-publishing process, you might find the array of tasks before you overwhelming – design a book cover, get a photo of yourself, proofread the manuscript, format the text, upload the text, pen a cover blurb, write then send out press releases, etc. etc. etc. – and you’re a writer, not an artist, marketing professional, or book publisher. Given this, you’re probably relieved to see self-publishing houses offer such services. But which of those services do you really need? And are they a good deal? READ MORE
This Week’s Podcast: Develop a Marketing Plan to Increase Sales
Marketing your book can become a full-time job that yields few immediate results. This cuts into your limited writing time – and you still need to work, raise your family, and maybe even attend school. The best solution is to develop a marketing plan and then limit your work on it to a few minutes a day. LISTEN TO PODCAST
Book Marketing Tip: What is an Email List and Why You Want One
In the Age of the Internet, just about everyone has an email address at which they can be reached. Knowing the email addresses of those people interested in your writing would go a long way in helping you sell more books, as you could inform them when new titles are coming out, when you have events, when your books are on sale, and more. READ MORE
Client Spotlight: “Murder on the Bayou” by Drew Davis
A couple of years ago, I had the pleasure of editing Drew Davis’s crime and action novel Murder on the Bayou. Hot off ending a deadly mob war and the lucrative theft of $3 million in cash, Crime Boss Tom Hill plans a fun coastal escape with son, Eric, as fair reward. But trouble has a strange way of catching up to Hill, placing him and his son in grave danger. 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. 27, 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.
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