A passion of Pen Dames is to help other writers by sharing tips and insights we have learned along the way. We hope you will find the pointers beneficial to your writing process.
The Author’s Support System
If you’re new to the writing world, you may have heard terms like beta reader, critique partner, or developmental editor. Maybe you’ve wondered what all this jargon means. So, let’s define these roles and discuss how different people can help authors shape a book.
Readers Who Help Writers
Critique Partners (CPs)
Usually fellow writers, critique partners swap pages of their WIP (Work in Progress) and give each other feedback. The writing doesn’t have to be polished—CPs are most useful for spotting big-picture issues like pacing, plot holes, and character arcs. They may or may not read the full manuscript, but when they do, it’s usually in chunks over weeks or months.
Alpha Readers
These are trusted friends or family who get the very first peek, often at a rough draft or right after early revisions. They read the whole story and let the author know if it’s working on a basic level.
Beta Readers
Beta readers are fans of the genre who read the full manuscript before publication. Their job is to flag places where the story drags, confuses them, or pulls them out. Some also leave early reviews. They might be friends, newsletter subscribers, or found through paid services that connect authors with betas.
ARC Readers
ARC (Advance Review Copy) readers receive the book right before publication and agree to provide an honest review. Like betas, they’re usually genre fans, but they see the book after editing is done. Some join through review services; others come straight from an author’s reader list.
Editors Who Polish the Story
Developmental Editors
These editors look at the big picture—story structure, character arcs, pacing, and major plot issues.
Copy (or Line) Editors
Copy editors focus on the details, sentence by sentence. They correct grammar, punctuation, and style, and check for POV errors, timeline problems, or inconsistent descriptions.
Proofreaders
The final set of eyes before publication. Proofreaders catch typos, punctuation issues, and formatting problems that slipped through earlier rounds.
Teamwork Shapes the Story
Publishing isn’t a solo act. Whether you go indie or traditional, a whole network of readers, editors, and designers help bring a book from first draft to finished copy.
Are you surprised by how many people contribute to a single book? If you’re new to writing, I hope this clears up some of the jargon. What other writing terms trip you up? Share them in the comments, and Pen Dames will tackle them in a future Pointer!
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Crutch words—what are they and why it is important to avoid them as much as possible. Crutch words are filler words that both veteran and novice writers’ overuse. These particular words add nothing meaningful to the story.
These include words such as: “and,” “well,” “but,” “so” and “you know,” but also mere sounds like “ah,” “um” and “er.” Sometimes they include words such as “literally,” “actually” and “basically.”
Writers tend to use crutch words or phrases out of habit. Be aware that they can hinder the clarity and impact of your writing, making your prose sound repetitive or amateurish.
How to avoid crutch words:
- Read Aloud: Reading your writing aloud can help you identify awkward phrasing and filler words more easily than reading silently.
- Slow Down: When writing, giving yourself more time to choose words carefully can help you avoid resorting to catch words as filler.
- Practice: Consciously focus on eliminating crutch words while writing
- Use Stronger Vocabulary: Replace weak words and qualfiers (like "very" or "really) with more precise and impactul language. For example, instead of saying "walked very fast," use "hurried" or rushed".
- Edit and Proofread: Review your writing specifically for crutch words and eliminate or replace them where possible.
Remember: It's not about eliminating every single instance of these words, but rather being mindful of their overuse and replacing them with more impactful alternatives when appropriate.
Overcome the Grocery List!
Strategies to overcome the Grocery List, which is just a list of adjectives or attributes.
Ex: It was a bright, sunny, hot summer day.
Give each adjective its own descriptive sentence.
"bright" = I shielded my eyes from the bright afternoon sunshine.
"sunny"= There was not a cloud in the sky, and the sun burned stronger than ever.
"hot" = I wiped the sweat from my forehead as I looked for a shady spot to rest.
(Examples are from Super-Story- Writing Strategies & Activities by Barbara Mariconda and Dee Paoletta Auray.)
Flossie Benton Rogers
Story structure or plot structure is the framework by which a writer organizes the elements of a story. Aristotle’s Poetics started everything off with the assertion that poetry and drama must have a beginning, middle, and end. These segments frame the conflict as it starts, rises to a climax, and falls. The beginning, middle, and end can also be termed Setup, Confrontation, and Resolution. These large segments of the framework, moving the story along through different stages, are sometimes called Acts.
Another common method of story structure, which is not much different from the Three Act Structure, is the Four Act Structure. This is a basic format for screenwriting. It divides the middle section (usually 50% of the book) into two equal 25% sections. The Four Act Structure is particularly useful for avoiding a sagging middle.
The segments of the Four Act Structure are called by different names. The Novel Smithy divides the four acts into the following stages: Setup, Struggle, Pursuit, and Conclusion. The Japanese story structure, KishÅtenketsu, divides the acts into Introduction, Development, Twist, and Conclusion. Other writers use different names, such as:
• Setup, Response, Attack, Resolution
• Exposition, Rising Action, Falling Action, Resolution
• Set Up, Build, Build Faster, Resolve
• Conflict Starts, Rising Action, Final Push, Conflict Ends
My particular favorite is: Setup, Reaction, Proaction, and Resolution. In Part One, Setup, the first 25% of the book, we learn the main ingredients of the story, including protagonist, antagonist, goal, conflict, setting, etc. In Part Two, Reaction, the protagonist responds to the forces around him and is often uncertain about how to proceed or achieve the goal. In Part Three, Proaction, the protagonist is more proactive and assertive. Despite failures and setbacks, he takes action and moves forward more insistently toward a final, high-stakes show down. Part Four, Resolution, gives us a chance to see the result of the protagonist’s actions. In a book with a positive ending, we see a restoration of balance and the new, improved normal of the protagonist.
The Four Act Structure:
• helps keep the pacing on track,
• helps the writer maintain clarity as the story moves along,
• helps in the development of distinct character arcs for each section,
• helps sustain consistent tension and suspense throughout the whole.
What large organizational structure do you use when writing? When breaking the story down further, have you organized by the plot point method called story beats? That is a topic that Pen Dames Pointers will address in the future!
