Welcome to First Manuscript
Whether you’re working on your first manuscript or your tenth, hopefully you’ll find new ideas or fresh insights to help you take your work to new levels.
Dax MacGregor
Featured Articles
First Manuscript’s featured articles cover important topics that every writer needs to know. These are our most widely read articles.
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Recent Articles
These are our most recent articles across all categories.
How To Format Dialogue (includes examples)
New writers often struggle to properly format dialogue. The rules are strict and different than prose, but easily mastered. Here is what you need to know.
Choosing the Best Novel Writing Software
Novel writing software should speed the process of capturing your words, formatting your work for sharing and incorporating feedback. Here are my recommendations.
Novel Manuscript Format (with Examples)
Before sharing your novel, you need to get it into the proper manuscript format. Here is what you need to know.
Writing Articles
We cover a wide range of topics designed to help you improve your writing skills.
Creative Ways To Capture Research Notes
When my research for my novel-in-progress required hiking in freezing weather, taking notes the traditional way didn’t work well. Here’s a couple of ideas of how to use technology for even better results.
My Plot Development Tool: Scenes in Swimlanes
I experimented with a number of plot development tools and techniques, but none of them worked well for me. So I created my own using a spreadsheet. I call it Scenes in Swimlanes.
Taglines Make Characters Memorable
Taglines or catch phrases make it easy for readers to remember a character. When they are done right, even years later, we recall the character with clarity.
Storytelling Articles
It doesn’t matter if you are writing biographies, literary fiction or science fiction. You need to share your stories in a way that captivates and engages readers. These articles will help you improve your storytelling skills.
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Interacting Articles
If you are looking to improve as a writer, it’s important that you interact with other writer and with readers. These articles are designed to help improve the effectiveness of your interactions.
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Publishing Articles
Good writing deserves to be read. These articles discuss ideas or strategies to get your work in the hands of readers.
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