Not making changes in time, locale or chronology: Remember to guide the reader through your story. If the reader’s frustrated or confused, he won’t finish the novel or buy your next one----if there is a next one.

Not knowing how to write and use flashbacks: Too many writers write extended flashbacks that are narrated and not dramatized. A flashback is just that – a return to the past that should be dramatized and brief so that the reader experiences the scene, and not told about it. If you find that you are using too many flashbacks, consider starting the story earlier than you have. When using flashbacks make it clear when you are taking the reader back into time, and when you return the reader to the time frame of the novel. Too many flashbacks also weaken the strength of the narrative by frequently diverting the reader from the main story.

NONFICTION

I’ll just touch upon a few of them here, and devote an entire column to them in the near future.

Failing to make an outline of the piece you want to write before you start writing: A loose outline will enable you to develop your main ideas to the fullest. The consequences of poor planning are abrupt transitions that give the piece a jerky, hard-to-follow quality, a confusing organization that prevents the reader from seeing the development of concepts and repetitions that weaken the power and impact of your thesis.

Failure to tailor your vocabulary to your audience: Many writers, especially academics, suffer from what I call “the curse of expertise.” They are so steeped in their field that that they write in the jargon of that field and not in lay language. This is fine for one’s peers, but alienating and often incomprehensible to a general audience. But beware that using too much jargon risks putting even your peer group to sleep. It’s important to realize that when you begin writing, the vocabulary you use chooses your audience for you so for a lay audience make your prose as jargon-free and as informal as possible. This does not in any way mean you should dumb down your writing. It does mean that you should make complex issues clear to the general reader.

Failing to research the field: Before you set down to write a proposal for the nonfiction book you want to write, check what is already out there on the shelves. Ask yourself if what you want to say is fresh, new, and a valuable contribution to the topic about which you plan to write. If you feel you can’t make a real contribution to the literature on the subject, then don’t waste your time and energy. Why? Because unless an agent or an editor feels that you have something valuable to give the reader---something up-to-date and informative---you won’t find an agent to represent you or an editor to publish you. Obviously there are many, many more mistakes frequently made by writers but time and space forbid citing and correcting them here and now. Perhaps at another time, if you express interest in an encore article.

EDITORIAL SERVICES OFFERED BY JERRY GROSS

A fiction and nonfiction generalist editor for over forty years, I do in-depth, problem-solving editorial critiques. Other editorial services include cutting, restructuring, rewriting, and line editing. I also develop, critique and edit fiction and nonfiction proposals. My editorial suggestions point out what works in the manuscript, and offer solutions to any problems I see. My comments are made in the margins of the manuscript, and then recapped in an accompanying report. I encourage questions and comments from the author after he or she receives the critique. My goals are to help the author write to the best of his or her ability, teach writing skills valuable not only for the current manuscript but for those to come, and to make the manuscript as effective and salable as possible.

I edit and critique all areas of adult and YA fiction except for category romances, westerns, science fiction, fantasy and children's books.

FICTION AREAS IN WHICH I SPECIALIZE: Commercial mainstream novels, historicals, literary novels, mysteries, thrillers, espionage, adventure and other genres of male-oriented escape fiction.

NONFICTION AREAS: Memoirs, the art and craft of editing, writing and publishing, popular health, medicine, psychology, personal relationships, business psychology, politics, history, social issues, movies, TV, theater, print and other mass media.

I am the editor of EDITORS ON EDITING: WHAT WRITERS NEED TO KNOW ABOUT WHAT EDITORS DO. Grove-Atlantic published the completely revised third edition of EOE in 1993. First published in 1962, it has become the standard work on trade book editing in our country, used in publishing, editing and creative writing courses and at writers’ conferences. In 1991 the book was published in Chinese in China and Taiwan, and is used to train editors at the Chinese Publishing Institute.

CAREER HISTORY: VP and Editorial Director of Paperback Library; VP and Editorial Director of Warner Books, VP and Associate Editor in Chief of New American Library, Editor in Chief of Everest Books, Senior Editor of Dodd, Mead & Company. During my career I created the Gothic Romance and Regency Romances as paperback categories (which endure to this day), created the first TV/Paperback tie-ins, and introduced Edgar Cayce and Georgette Heyer to paperbacks.

For rates and further references, contact Jerry at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it