by K. Ross Writing is tricky. Trying to express your meaning clearly can be hard enough, but also making it engaging can be quite the balancing act. As a writer, I’m still working on it, but as an editor, ill-considered or lazy writing jumps off the page at me like a facehugger from… Read More What Words to Avoid in Your Writing
by Franklin Kendrick There are a lot of books and articles that talk about the craft of writing good characters, their motivations, how to give them personalities, etc. So, what’s one more added to the list? Well, this is my personal approach to writing a scene by channeling my characters. Perhaps it will… Read More Channel Your Characters
by Sue Coletta The dreaded synopsis. Anyone who’s chosen the traditional path into publishing know that these pesky buggers are enough to drive a writer to drink…literally. I have good news and bad. The good news is I’ve found a solution to help keep your liver intact. The bad, no matter how much… Read More How To Craft a One-Page Synopsis Using Story Beats
by Larry Kahaner I came across a blog from Guy Portman titled “10 Famous Authors’ Day Jobs” in which he lists… well…you get it. What struck me most from reading Guy’s blog post is how many famous authors eventually gave up their day jobs (Natch. They’re famous.) and how many used what they… Read More Can I Write Novels Even if I Haven’t Had an Interesting Life?
by Christina Dalcher Warning: I can get over-excited with my blog posts and pull an Agatha Christie sort of “I will make you wait until the very end to see the take home message.” Here it is, up front: Ask agents offering you representation for at least three client references. Contact them.… Read More How To Pick an Agent (and Live Happily Ever After)
by Kelsie Engen Every author has a “bad” book to their name. Come on, admit it. It’s that book you wrote back in your early writing days, the one where you thought it was magical. Then, for one reason or another, you set it aside, and when you dusted it off a year… Read More 5 Things You Learn from Writing “Bad” Books
by Ryan Lanz It’s been said that the difference between a good novel and a great novel is only 1%. When I first read that, it used to drive me nuts. What is that 1%? If you asked 100 people, you would probably get 100 different answers. What I’m talking about here… Read More How to Gain That Last 1% in Your Writing
