Manuscript Must-Follow Rules

9 Must-Follow Manuscript Rules
quoted from Anica Mrose Rissi

Here’s editor Anica Mrose Rissi’s list of what you can do to increase your book’s chances of making it out of the slush pile and into the spotlight.

1. Revise, revise, revise! I don’t want to read your first draft, ever. (Tip: Your novel isn’t ready to send to me until you can describe it in one sentence.)

2. Start with conflict and tension to raise questions, arouse curiosity and (like musical dissonance) create the need for resolution.

3. Start with the story you’re telling, not with the backstory. Throw the reader directly into a conflict and let her get to know your characters through their actions. (Yes, this is another way of saying, “Show, don’t tell.”)

4. Give the reader something to wonder about and a sense of where the story is going—of what’s at stake.

5. Avoid explaining too much too soon. And, don’t be obvious. Trust your readers. Trust your characters. Trust your writing. If you find that chunks of your story need to include long explanations, go back in and write those chunks better, until the story explains itself.

6. Make sure your story has both a plot arc and an emotional arc. Cross internal conflict with external conflict. Give your characters moral dilemmas, and force them to deal with the consequences of their choices.

7. Read your dialogue out loud. When revising, ask yourself, “What is the point of this dialogue?” (Just as you should be asking, “What is the point of this sentence? What is the point of this scene?”)

8. Use adjectives, adverbs and dialogue tags only sparingly. (See “trust your readers,” above.)

9. Make sure your details matter.

No Easy Way, a novel by S.R. Claridge

"No Easy Way"

No Easy Way by S.R. Claridge



Swerving with the kind of deliberate precision only blind rage can empower, the black pick-up crushes Kansas Oil Tycoon, Lou Martin Miller, leaving Miller’s widow with an impossible choice: Cover the sin that lead to her husband’s death and conceal the identity of his killer, or risk the destruction of her family. She carefully weaves a net of protection around her family, but the day she dies it begins to unravel, leaving her grandson, Tom, and his soon-to-be-ex-wife, Kate, in grave danger.

Missing evidence, mistaken identity and manipulation leave private investigator, Stephen Braznovich, trapped between white lies and dark lusts, as he races to piece together a family secret before the next victim falls prey to deep-rooted revenge. The trouble is anyone who gets close to the truth winds up dead.

On the verge of an unwanted divorce, Tom must decide between a confession that could save his marriage or lie to save himself. Tension mounts as Tom and Kate’s lives hang in a twisted balance of crossed lines and misunderstood motives, all pointing to one simple truth. There is No Easy Way.

E-book Sales Rose 167% in May

E-book Sales Rose 167% in May

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Why I Write

I was recently asked why I spend so much time writing...why I have written my whole life...why I feel the need to write. The answer was simple:

“I write because I can’t NOT write. I love it and I loathe it. It lifts me up and it burdens me. It hollows out my insides and it fulfills me. It is a consuming passion, driven not from a choice but from an endless craving. To ask me not to write would be asking me not to breathe.”

A Contest Finalist

My novel, No Easy Way, has been selected as a finalist in the Heart of Denver Romance Writers Contest. I am excited to make the finals and honored to attend the award ceremony and conference on October 23rd.

Congratulations to all the finalists!!

A "Novel" Notion

I am very excited as I have signed a Publishing contract today for my novel entitled, No Easy Way. It is a romantic suspense story guaranteed to keep you guessing, as missing evidence, mistaken identity and manipulation leave characters trapped between white lies and dark lusts. Tension mounts as lives hang in a twisted balance of crossed lines and misunderstood motives, all pointing to one simple truth. There is No Easy Way.

Look for the Ebook release late October 2010!