reading the psychological thriller

Drawing on my class notes and experience of writing in this genre, each article in this new series explores and clarifies aspects of the writing process and the perils and advantages of writing within the psychological thriller genre. You can subscribe for free by adding your email below.

fiction editing and critiquing service

For fiction, I provide a developmental editing service. In the case of novels, instead of editing the entire manuscript in one go, I do it in stages, as follows:

1. The author sends me their manuscript, which I print out and read in full.

2. Following this, I edit and critique the first 25-33% (depending on its length), which I then return to the author. This includes:

   • detailed, in-depth and specific, page-by-page suggestions and comments throughout the relevant section of the manuscript, using Word’s Comments function;

   • a c. 1,000-word report that identifies strengths of the ms. and makes suggestions; and

   • light copy-editing of the ms., using the Track Changes function in MS Word.

3. We arrange our first consultation (in person or via Zoom), at which the author has the chance to ask questions and seek clarification.

   At this point, the author can decide whether they wish for me to continue critiquing the next section of their manuscript, or to pause the process, while they return to the manuscript to work on it again.

4. If the author wishes to continue, the above is repeated for the remaining sections, until the critiquing process is complete. So, for a ms. of c. 80,000 words, I might critique it in stages of 20,000 words each, and the whole process would involve four consultations.

The author is only charged after each Zoom call, for the work already done, and there is no obligation on them to continue with the process after that.

courses and workshops

I teach classes (online and via Zoom) on fiction writing, most recently with the Irish Writers Centre. For further information, contact me at liza@lizacostello.com