Mastodon
Close

Writing Rule #1: There Is No “One Right Way”

Sunset silhouette of a direction sign with text: Looking for Writing Success? "One Right Way" Doesn't Exist

Every once in a while, I come across a blog post or a workshop description that makes me want to warn newbie writers away. The problem usually lies with the author/presenter’s insistence that their way is the best way, or in some cases, the only way. The truth is that we all have to find what works best for […]

Pin It

August 29, 2013

Read More

Story Tropes: Should We Avoid Them?

Field of tulips in Holland with text: Are Story Tropes Always Cliches--and Bad?

Several months ago, I saw a fascinating Storify by Carina Press editor Angela James. I meant to do a post about the issue she brought up, but I often have more blog post ideas than time. With my recent articles about subtext, genre stories, formulaic writing, and my guest post at Paranormal Unbound about tropes […]

Pin It

August 22, 2013

Read More

Calling All Pantsers!

Close up of blue jeans with text: Calling All Pantsers

I’m afraid I don’t have much of a post here today, but I have a good excuse—with news to help writers. *smile* First, I have a guest post over at Paranormal Unbound, where Angela Quarles and I discuss the subtext in paranormal stories. What does it mean for the romance if the couple is “fated” […]

Pin It

August 20, 2013

Read More

Google’s Fickleness: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

Google Logo with text: Adapting to Changes...

If one thing is constant with Google, it’s that they always change. Over the past couple of years, they phased out most of Google Friend Connect and stopped supporting Feedburner. However, I realized recently that I hadn’t talked about their latest changes. Some of their recent changes have been good (Google Authorship), others bad (Gmail’s Tabbed Inbox), […]

Pin It

August 15, 2013

Read More

Do You Know Your Story’s Subtext?

Book with a hole cut into the pages with text: What Message Is Hiding in Your Story?

Last week we discussed the messages and meanings hidden within genre stories. Sometimes we, as writers, might not be aware of all the impressions readers take away from our writing. The messages readers get from our writing aren’t always explicitly stated. That is, a story’s meaning and hidden messages lurk in elements like subtext, theme, and […]

Pin It

August 13, 2013

Read More

Are Genre Stories More Stupid?

Pacific Rim poster from ComicCon with text: Does "Genre" = Stupid?

I make no secret of the fact that I’m a genre girl. I prefer genre stories (of almost any genre) over most literary fiction. Ditto for movies. Give me an action, sci-fi, comic book, or adventure story, and I’ll be there buying tickets. Even for the cheesy ones like Green Lantern. (Though I’ll promptly make […]

Pin It

August 8, 2013

Read More

When Should We Start Building Our Platform?

Red flag with text: Don't Have a Platform? Red Flag!

In my post about book pirates and plagiarism, I mentioned that book bloggers and reviewers are now more wary of debut authors, especially those who are self-published. I don’t blame them. Some people out there are willing to do an insane amount of work to fake legitimacy. A book blogger exposed one author who created fake […]

Pin It

August 6, 2013

Read More

Book Series: Should We Include a Teaser Excerpt?

Child sticking out his tongue with text: Teasing Is Good When...

Yesterday, Kristen Lamb ran an encore of one of my posts from last year on her blog. We both liked that post because it discusses the importance of leaving the reader room to use their imagination. In the post, I made an aside about the danger of including a teaser excerpt for the next book in […]

Pin It

August 1, 2013

Read More

The New Face of Book Pirates: Plagiarists

Pirate skulls with text: Pirates and Plagiarism

Surprisingly, many authors haven’t bothered worrying about book pirates. They figured a few copies going to readers who never would have paid for them anyway didn’t matter. Heck, some authors even thought book pirates could be good for their career. Spread the word, appeal to more readers who might buy their book next time, yadda yadda. Um, […]

Pin It

July 30, 2013

Read More