Where Normal Need Not Apply
We’ve talked about the importance of keeping our stories believable, but the fantasy genre (and all its subgenres) require certain aspects to be unrealistic. Character types and plot points involving dragons, superheroes, vampires, etc. are all beyond the reality of our world. What does that mean for the reader? A […]
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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 […]
The end of this week marks the unofficial beginning to the holiday shopping season in the United States. Thursday is our Thanksgiving holiday, and the day after is known as Black Friday, the day retailers finally sell enough to put their accounting books “in the black” for the year. I’m […]
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I finished the first draft of another WIP (work in progress) on Monday. Guess how I celebrated? *cringes* Uh, yeah…I did nothing. Yes, it was too late to go out for a celebratory dinner. And yes, I have a lot of editing to do. But shouldn’t I have done something? Sure, […]
I’m excited to share today’s guest post by editor A. Victoria Mixon with everyone. Her new book The Art & Craft of Story: 2nd Practitioner’s Manual recently came out and is a great addition to our writing craft library. In fact, her blog tour posts have been excerpts from this […]
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With fiction, a fine line exists between stories we can relate to (no matter how fantastical the setting, characters, or plot) and those we can’t. We’ve all heard the phrase “suspension of disbelief” in relation to movies and books to explain how we accept the impossible. Every genre has different […]
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Several writers I know have recently tried the “Fast Draft” method. What is the Fast Draft method? Fast drafting entails getting the framework of our stories down as fast as possible—without worrying what that draft looks like. Author Candace Havens says it’s possible to complete a first draft in two weeks. […]
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My friend Roni Loren wrote a fabulous post yesterday about the life cycle of a blogger. She echoed thoughts similar to Kait Nolan’s great post, “Social Media Ennui.” When we first start on social media or reading and/or writing blog posts, everything is shiny and new. That post about query […]
Last week, Stacy Green asked me a question on Twitter and my fingers cramped while thinking about how to answer her in chunks of 140 characters. *smile* So we decided to make it an Ask Jami question here instead. Stacy asked: “What’s your opinion on e-publishers versus agents? … pros […]
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Some days it feels like the publishing business has endless debates and choices where people want us to take sides. Plotter vs. pantser, plot-driven vs. character-driven, traditional publishing vs. self-publishing. Ugh. I don’t like taking sides because one answer doesn’t apply to every situation, much less every person. With my whatever-works-for-you […]
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