by Diana Raab, PhD

Poetry is the voice of the soul and is often considered a free-flowing form of expression. Poets help us see a slice of the world in a way in which we might not have observed it before. They highlight details to cast a light on a feeling, an image, or an event. Poetry also helps offer insight into both the human psyche and human behavior, and it is a place where the imagination can roam free.

Letting go and writing poetry is about just allowing life and experiences to unfold as they are meant to unfold. When writing poetry, try to release or let go of your rational mind and let your sensations and emotions take over. Letting go is also about slowing down and pausing while being mindful of what is stirring inside you.

Continue reading How to Begin to Write Poetry →

by Melanie Mole

Writing can be a lonely business. By its very nature it is often a solitary existence. As a writer I have often thought how sad it is that some writers don’t support each other more. We are probably all after the same goal. We all want to write, and most to be heard. Some do write for pleasure only which is great, because to write just for the pleasure of it is a lovely thing. But whatever the reason, writing is our aim.

Continue reading Let’s Have More Writer Love →

by Doug Lewars

So who would you like to read your book? Well that’s an easy question. Everyone! So let’s see. There are seven billion people on this planet give or take a few and if I receive one dollar for every book sold and I have eight published so far then I’d get … Oh my! Eat your heart out Bill Gates.

However we know that’s not going to happen. For one thing English is not the first language of the majority of people and, when reading for pleasure, most individuals would prefer to read in the language with which they are most familiar. So the potential audience is cut down considerably – which brings us to the subject of this post – demographics.

Continue reading Demographics – Know Yourself / Know Your Reader →

by Sara Butler Zalesky

Not long ago, an installment on A Writer’s Path was “How to Screw Up Your Novel: The Series Cheat“, written by novelist/guest poster Larry Kahaner.

While I balked at the title, I liked the article and even commented: ‘If the story is as good as French Macaroons, readers will go on to the second book in the series.’ As more people commented on the post, I started to think defensively because Wheeler kind of ends on a cliffhanger. Sort of. The Mama Bear came out to protect what is essentially my soul.

Continue reading To Cliffhanger or Not to Cliffhanger, That is the Question… →

Throwback Thursday is a series where we take a look back at some of AWP’s most popular posts. Enjoy!

by Katie McCoach

As an author, your relationship with your editor, your book cover designer, your agent, and your publishing house are all extremely important to your success. I believe in good and bad energy—what you put out, you get back in return.

Day to day, I work my tail off to be my clients’ favorite editor. If I can be in their list of best editors they’ve ever worked with, my relationship with them, and other clients in turn, will be more fulfilling.

And I believe this can go the other way around. The more fulfilling your relationship as an author with your editor(s), the smoother the process will be for the both of you, and you’ll be excited to work together then and in the future.

Continue reading Throwback Thursday: How to Be An Editor’s Favorite Client →

by Ian J Miller

If you write historical novels, you may end up having to handle battles, and the question is, how to do it? The simplest way is to focus on one or more persons on the front line. You may be able to write some important character aspect of the protagonist, and this is good, but if so, the battle is merely an excuse to do that and is not an important part of the plot.

But suppose the battle is important, or you want to bring it to prominence? You may well want to do better than to describe a lot of hacking or shooting. To give an overview of what is going on brings you into the zone of strategy and tactics, but how do you do that? The obvious answer is, do some research, but where?

Continue reading Writing Authentic Battle Scenes →

by Lissa Oliver

We’ve all read those wordy introductions to a character, the type that run “ever since she’d suffered the two miscarriages and had failed to conceive since…” or one of the characters conveniently filling in the reader on a back story, “how long is it now since your wife died? Four years? I still can’t believe how that taxi driver fell asleep at the wheel…”

Yes, well, we still can’t believe how a couple of friends would sit and chat like that, but it doesn’t stop it happening in book after book. Or film after film, for that matter. Screenwriters seem to be among the worst culprits when it comes to squeezing in as many facts as they feel we need to know, in the shortest possible time. They’re working to a 90-minute time constraint, but as novelists we have no such restriction and should know better.

Continue reading Five Things Authors Can Learn From Drama Classes →