writing contests

Does Good News Make You Worry?

May 14, 2013 News
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Being a writer can often feel like living on a rollercoaster, with huge hills and dips around every curve. Writer’s block, rejections, low sales figures, pirated books, and other bad news can make us feel heavier than gravity itself. We might wish we could sink through the floor and disappear. On the other hand, good [...]

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Why Is Storytelling Ability So Important?

April 30, 2013 Writing Stuff
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What makes some poorly written books fall flat on their face while others succeed despite their flaws? One common answer is “storytelling ability.” But what is storytelling? The concept can seem vague and immeasurable—rather like “voice.” A recent experience with two poorly written books gave me insight into how a deeply flawed story can still [...]

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Why Do You Enter Writing Contests?

April 25, 2013 Writing Stuff
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A couple of weeks ago, someone (I won’t name who because I don’t want to embarrass her) asked me what score I’d received in a writing contest. I didn’t want to answer at first. I worried about making her feel bad or seeming like I was bragging. Yet I could understand her question. She’d noticed I [...]

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Merry Christmas! Some Gifts for You…

December 25, 2012 Random Musings
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I’ll be offline for most of this week, but I wanted to leave you with some fun (and yummy) gifts. If you’re celebrating this week, I hope your plans all unfold smoothly, your travels all go safely, your family members all behave perfectly, and all your dreams for the New Year come true. Those of [...]

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Can We Tell When We’re Getting “Close”?

November 6, 2012 Writing Stuff
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Everyone’s journey along the writing path is unique. Yet it’s natural to watch for milestones and sign posts that might indicate when we’re getting “close.” When we get our first request off a query, we might think our query won’t hold us back anymore. When we get our first contest final, we might think our [...]

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NaNo Prep: Making Time for Writing

October 11, 2012 Writing Stuff
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Many writers will spend the month of November dedicating every spare minute to writing as they participate in National Novel Writing Month (known as NaNoWriMo or just plain NaNo). So now is the perfect time to identify issues that could interfere with our writing goals. (And read on below for a class on “plotting for pantsers,” [...]

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How Do You Handle Disappointments?

March 27, 2012 Random Musings
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Over a thousand writers stared at their phones yesterday, willing them to ring.  Only around 150 of them received the call they were waiting for.  Yesterday the Romance Writers of America (RWA) announced the Golden Heart and RITA finalists. One of the largest writing organizations in the world released the names of the finalists for their [...]

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It’s Time to “Pitch Your Shorts”!

January 10, 2012 Writing Stuff
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Update:  Sorry, this pitch session is now closed.  I might do another one at some point, so stay tuned. Thanks for your interest! The Pitch Your Shorts pitch session is officially open!  Please read the whole post for all the details. We’ll have at least six (6!) editors from Entangled Publishing visiting the blog between now [...]

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Write Fiction? Why You Should Try a Short Story

December 22, 2011 News
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My regular readers know I typically write novel-length stories.  However, during one crazy four-day stretch, I wrote a long-ish short story/short-ish novella (novelette?).  For those of you following along at home, I’m referring to my story inspired by spam. I’ve blogged before about how the experience was a great way to stretch myself, but even [...]

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The Best Reason to Blog – Part 2

November 24, 2011 Random Musings
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Today is Thanksgiving in the U.S.  The day we eat too much food, roll our eyes at the antics of our extended family, and think about all the things we’re grateful for.  Or in my case, wait for the tryptophan to kick in from the turkey so I can catch up on sleep. Last year [...]

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