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About Jim Dempsey

Jim Dempsey (he/him) is a book editor who specializes in detailed analysis and editing of novel manuscripts through his company, Novel Gazing. He has worked as an editor for more than 20 years. He has a master’s degree in creative writing and is a professional member of the Chartered Institute of Editing and Proofreading and is a trustee of the Arkbound Foundation. Jim is fascinated by the similarities between fiction and psychotherapy, since both investigate the human condition, the things that make us uniquely human. He explores this at The Fiction Therapist website. If you have a specific concern with your novel, send an email to jim [at] thefictiontherapist.com, or visit the website to ask for a free sample edit. You can follow Jim on Instagram @the_fiction_therapist.

Recent Posts by this author:

  • Do You Really Want to Be a Writer?
  • Manipulate Your Readers’ Point of View
  • What Really Drives Your Characters?
  • Writing is a Labyrinth of Choices
  • How to Give Useful Criticism
  • The Wonders of your Character’s World View
  • Achieve Your Writing Goals
  • How to Respond to Criticism
  • Tune out your self-doubt—Fiction Therapy
  • Discover Your Characters’ Goals
  • How to Find Inspiration—Fiction Therapy
  • Fiction Therapy—What’s Your Story’s Problem?

    • Do You Really Want to Be a Writer?

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    When people ask what I do and I say I’m a novel editor, they tell me they’d love to write a book some day, once the kids are grown up, when they have more time, or if only they were good enough.

    Some people have already given up trying. They say, ‘I suppose if I really wanted to write I’d have done it by now.’

    But that’s just another excuse. That argument assumes we all fall naturally into what we want to do, when in fact it’s much more natural to find an excuse not to do it.

    We all makes excuses. It’s a part of what we do. And the first step to making a commitment to finally writing that book is to recognize the excuses and to stop them getting in the way of your dreams. [Read more…]

    Manipulate Your Readers’ Point of View

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    After seeing lots of hype in the media, I’ve been catching up with the HBO series Succession. The writers are there are expert at manipulating their audience. Their basic message is straightforward and not subtle. The main characters – members of a family that owns a multinational media and entertainment empire – are horrible, selfish and self-absorbed. They treat everyone with contempt. But they reserve their true disdain for those outside the immediate family, in other words, those who are … [Read more...]

    What Really Drives Your Characters?

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    There’s a lot of writing advice that tells you to find your characters' goals. If you can work out what drives them in their lives, you can use those goals to drive the story. Most of this advice will tell that your character should have two goals: internal and external. The alcoholic detective’s external need is to find the killer while his internal need is to get over the loss of his wife, which is what drives him to drink. The young student at the school for magic needs to combat evil … [Read more...]

    Writing is a Labyrinth of Choices

    By

    Your phone rings. You check the screen. You don’t recognize the number. Do you answer it? The cars in front of you on the highway slow down, their brake lights glowing. The traffic is gridlocked up ahead, but there’s an exit just before. Do you take it? Life is full of decisions, apparently simple choices that could take you in a whole different direction. Fiction, as a reflection of life, is the same. In the hero’s journey – a template for stories found all over the world – there is what … [Read more...]

    How to Give Useful Criticism

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    The great thing about Writer Unboxed is the sense of community it gives to writers. There’s the twitter account to follow, the Facebook group to connect with others, and, of course, the unconference where you can really engage in all things writery. All of this is so important in the otherwise solitary task of writing. Beyond WU are the many writers’ groups, often online these days to help writers connect with others working in their specific genres or interest areas. And then there are beta … [Read more...]

    The Wonders of your Character’s World View

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    A father, Jim, takes his son thirteen-year-old son, Roy, to Alaska in the tradition of all those great male adventurers. It’s long been an ambition for Jim, to pack up and live off the land for a year. It gives him the chance to connect with his son and show the boy what it means to be a man. But Jim doesn’t know this environment. When challenged, he makes mistakes, bad decisions and over-rules his son’s suggestions. After all, Roy is still a child. What does he know? Jim is the father; he … [Read more...]

    Achieve Your Writing Goals

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    There are times when writing is easy, when you get through that daily word count without too much effort. And there are times when the final goal – that moment when you can type The End – seems very far away. There will be days when you think it will be impossible to reach, and it seems so much easier to check Instagram, Facebook, Twitter or even clean the house. When you get to that point, however, there’s a better way to procrastinate. Follow this quick and simple process to overcome your … [Read more...]

    How to Respond to Criticism

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    Last time, I looked at how to deal with your own inner critic, and this month it seems appropriate and timely to look at external criticism. Any kind of feedback on your writing—whether good or bad—can be useful, but the negative stuff can hit hard, causing a burst of emotions within you. What’s the best way to deal with that and respond to those who criticize your writing? Since the latest and final series of Game of Thrones aired, more than a 1.5 million have signed a petition to have it … [Read more...]

    Tune out your self-doubt—Fiction Therapy

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    Best-selling thriller writer, Ian Rankin, has been writing professionally since the mid-1980s. He’s written close to 30 novels. He pretty much writes a book a year. But, at a certain point in his drafting process, usually somewhere at the end of the first month, he is struck by, what he calls, ‘the fear.’ He is convinced that all the work he's done in that month has been a waste of time, that this new book won’t be any good. When he mentions this to his wife, she usually asks, 'Are you on … [Read more...]

    Discover Your Characters’ Goals

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    Working out what your characters’ goals are will help you plan your plotline and develop engaging, motivated characters your readers will love to follow. Your characters need goals to get them to the next page, and then the next, and on until the end. They need to be going somewhere, trying to achieve something. That will make them the kinds of characters readers will want to spend time with, maybe even for a few hundred pages. Readers will want to know if your characters achieve those … [Read more...]

    How to Find Inspiration—Fiction Therapy

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    Whether you're wondering what happens next in your story, want to write your first novel, or are about to start on the next instalment of your long-running series, there are always times when you’ll need inspiration. And it is often surprisingly close by. 'Be observant,' said the dramatist, Lajos Egri, 'and you will be forced to admit that the world is an inexhaustible pastry shop and you are permitted to choose from the delicacies the tastiest bits for yourself.' It’s that easy. Except … [Read more...]

    Fiction Therapy—What’s Your Story’s Problem?

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    Every month, I examine some aspect of fiction—character development, plot, story structure, etc.—and offer advice and tips to help you work through the problems in your novel. I have adapted many of the concepts you’ll see here from proven techniques used in modern psychotherapy. Hence: Fiction Therapy. If you have a specific concern about your novel, send an email to jim [at] thefictiontherapist.com and I’ll do my best to help. I recently reviewed a debut novel, The Valley at the … [Read more...]