by Michael Cristiano   When it comes to writing, there is nothing more daunting than writing a novel. Okay, maybe attempting to write a saga of twelve novels is a little bit more daunting, but let’s stick to just one for now. In my opinion, writing a novel is a little more difficult than say… Read More 4 Misconceptions About Writing a Novel

  by Monique Hall   Nearly five weeks ago, I battled nerves and self-doubt but finally managed to hit send on my manuscript submissions to the editors I pitched to at the RWA Conference at the end of August. A few days after that, I participated in a Twitter pitch contest—an attempt to pitch your manuscript… Read More Rejection: A Writer’s Rite of Passage

  by Monique Hall   Before I had finished the third draft of my manuscript, I kept it from view in much the same way a vampire would shy away from the sun. Whenever someone would walk into the room, there would be a lot of hissing and flailing of arms attempting to protect the work in its… Read More 6 Tips for Using Beta Readers

  W = (Who, What, Where, and When) Right up front, give your readers what they want, information. Show your readers an image that hooks them from the beginning.

    by ARHuelsenbeck   I am blessed to have my own writing room. It’s my daughters’ former bedroom, outfitted with a desk, a dresser, two overfilled bookcases, two stuffed file cabinets, 3 stacks of TBR books, and 12 banker’s boxes of miscellany I need to find places for. I can generally be found there… Read More Where Do You Write?

    by Ryan Lanz   Most writers have used some form of internal monologue. Are we using it the right way? The style of internal monologue is a wide one. Some authors use it sparingly and some color entire pages with it. A friend of mine recently read a book with more than a… Read More What to Avoid with Internal Monologue

  by Mindy Halleck    In 2011,I embarked on one of the harshest undertakings; I placed what I thought was the final draft of my novel in a drawer for one year. Why? Because, as I told others in my most knowledgeable author voice, “A writer needs distance from their material before editing and rewriting.”