Where Normal Need Not Apply
For many things in life, more is better. In stores, we see packaging with “Bonus 10% extra!”, “Now even bigger!”, and “Twice the number of chocolate chips per cookie!” (That last one is unquestionably better. One of my greatest achievements is making chocolate chip cookies with just enough batter to […]
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When you first started writing, did you realize how much work it would take? Or were you like most of us, thinking that you’d written your share of emails, essays, or Christmas letters and that writing a whole story wouldn’t be—couldn’t be—that much harder? But at some point—maybe it’s when […]
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Yesterday, I tweeted a link to a great post by Sally Apokedak about not cheating the reader by skipping emotional scenes. Some writers struggle with heavy scenes. They’re uncomfortable with “invading” the privacy of their characters. They worry about creating laughably cheesy scenes. Or they think a scene that’s essential […]
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The last couple of posts have been about beta reading, beta readers, and authors helping each other. I love positive, uplifting conversations like that. But the comments brought up an important point: Sometimes the relationships we have with other writers in our circle aren’t all unicorns and rainbows. Sometimes a […]
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I mentioned on Twitter yesterday that I didn’t have much time to write my blog post for today. Why? Because I was beta reading a story, and I could not put it down. I’ve had several posts about finding beta readers or what to look for in beta readers, but I […]
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I thought I already had a blog post about this topic, but I didn’t. Is déjà vu blogging a sign of something worrisome? *smile* Anyway, I want to thank agent Laura Bradford, who gave me the idea for this post when she shared several great tips on Twitter yesterday about beta readers […]
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This post originally ran several months ago at the Girls With Pens blog. It’s one of my favorites because I’m always looking for checklists to make sure I’m not missing anything while editing and revising. I hope you find it useful. Whether we plot our stories ahead of time or write […]
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As we head into “writing conference” season, I thought I’d revisit my post about how to write a pitch. This post originally ran several months ago, but the information never gets old. (In fact, I’ve used this to help myself write pitches lately.) Pitches fall into many categories, from loglines […]
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Recent events have brought fan fiction out of the hidden realm of über-fans and into mainstream media. For the first time, many authors are learning of the existence of fan fiction and wondering how it might affect them. Let’s take a look at what fan fiction is, what it means […]
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It’s tempting to put all our effort into a big debut or breakout book. It’s natural to want our work to make a big splash and gain attention. We might think that if we break out, we’ll have it made. But there’s a dark side to that approach, especially if […]
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