I was delighted to introduce Helen Corner-Bryant’s session ‘On Editing’ at the Dorchester Literary Festival last Sunday. As Chair of the Dorset Writers’ Network, I worked with festival co-director, Janet Gleeson, to arrange this input. Helen is a wonderful speaker who has substantial experience in supporting writers, firstly as an editor’s assistant at Penguin, and then in setting up the Cornerstones Literary Consultancy. Helen seeks to help writers overcome the creative barriers they encounter and with her team, they offer support that might otherwise take a writer much time to work out for themselves.
Some top tips offered in the session include:
- If you don’t feel confident writing dialogue it may be because you don’t know your characters well enough. Try interviewing your character or letting them have conversations in your head.
- Make sure there is a point of tension on every page of your novel
- Novels work well using a three act structure
- When you come to a stop with your writing have a think about what this might mean for the work. Could it indicate a problem with the structure, plot or characterisation?
Did you know Cornerstones welcome submissions of the opening ten pages of your novel with the synopsis for a free evaluation?
Because Q&As are so valuable to writers, Helen has devised an ‘ask a literary consultant’ session where she outlines her role then opens the floor to questions. I am now working with the Dorset Writers’ Network to find a date and venue to offer this input. Follow the Dorset Writers’ Network on Facebook and Twitter for updates and/or subscribe to the newsletter on the website.
Helen’s book On Editing: How to edit your novel the professional way is an invaluable resource and is available from any good bookshop or can be purchased through Amazon.
the writer is a lonely hunter 
Three act structure has always worked for me and if you are not a great advance planner you can list ingredients for each act and work forward from those ideas. But I do absolutely believe plan characters- protagonists first as best you can. I like the point about dialogue. Sometimes you think you have a voice, then another character sounds too much the same. This is where the knowing that character matters, differing voices, tones, nuances.
Absolutely, Carol. Thanks for adding your pointers, too.