Where Normal Need Not Apply
I had the idea for this post over a month ago after seeing a Slate article about the “epidemic” of niceness in online book culture. Their point boiled down to whether all the friendliness on social media made people feel they couldn’t say bad things about books. I was going […]
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I fully admit that one of my weaknesses is an out-of-control email inbox. Between my accounts for writing and day job, I have an obscene number of unread emails. (As in, a hundred times the number depicted in this picture.) Granted, the vast majority of those unread emails are list […]
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I think this week might secretly be listed on agents’ and publishers’ calendars as National Rejection Week. *smile* Okay, not really. But judging from the online conversations I had with writing friends over the past couple of days, it certainly feels that way to many of us. In other words, […]
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Most of us who blog think having guest posts is a “good” thing. We bring in others outside our expertise. We expose our blog to their followers. We get to take a break in our blogging schedule. Heck, I’ve written about the benefits of guest posts. But there’s a hidden […]
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I’ve talked a lot about the issues facing authors on the Big 6 side of traditional publishing, from agent hunting to contracts. I’ve also discussed the self-publishing side of the aisle, from quality concerns to ebook pricing. In contrast, I haven’t posted much about small publishers. Honestly, I don’t know as […]
Whoo boy, do I have a treat for you today. The lovely Melinda Collins recently returned from an Immersion Master Class with Margie Lawson, and she’s here today to share her experience. I’m playing this cool now, but it was a different story earlier. When I heard Melinda was going […]
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Okay, I wasn’t going to do yet another post about Michael Hauge’s presentation at the Romance Writers of America (RWA) Conference. But an off-the-cuff, as-we-were-heading-out-the-door thought he gave to us at the end of his “Using Inner Conflict to Create Powerful Love Stories” workshop really stuck with me, and I wanted to share it with you. Over […]
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I’ve mentioned before that I love subtext. I’ve analyzed the Spiderman reboot for subtext. I’ve written about how to revise for subtext, how to use subtext in emotional scenes, and how character development happens in subtext. Yeah, I’m a tad obsessed with subtext. So when the fantastic Angela Ackerman of […]
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Several weeks ago, we discussed why authors shouldn’t worry about the ebook versus print debate but should instead focus on their readers’ online versus offline buying habits. Shortly after that post, I visited my local Barnes & Noble bookstore, a beautiful two-story building complete with an escalator. I love that place. But […]
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Michael’s Six Stage Plot Structure describes a character’s inner journey in relation to external plot events. Over the course of six stages and five turning points, a character will stop living in fear and instead live courageously.
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