The Shape of Words

  • How to format your novel manuscript so an editor actually reads it!

    This post originally appeared on the Wild Hunt Books blog. You wouldn’t expect it, but more often than not, I receive manuscripts that are so strangely formatted that they are just about unreadable. And if that’s the case with yours, it’s a disservice to all the hard work and passion you’ve put into your book.…

    Ariell Cacciola
  • a women sitting on a bed and throwing books around her

    Do I really need to start my novel ‘in action’?

    In short, yes. But I think there is a confusion about what this means for a writer. This is a shorthand that editors, tutors, critics and book coaches use but I’ve started to realise that’s there a misunderstanding here. Writers are frustrated that they must start their books in a skyscraper scaling action sequence a…

    Ariell Cacciola

  • Book Review: Victorian Psycho by Virginia Feito

    ‘It is early fall, the cold is beginning to descend, and in three months everyone in this house will be dead.‘ There are rare moments when I think a book was written specifically for me. That the author sat down and thought, ‘Yes, it’s time to write something for Ariell today.’ I felt this completely…

    Ariell Cacciola