Wanna Know How/Where to Start Your Novel? Read a TON of first chapters. I'll talk about published ones today, and unpublished ones in another post. On my week of not-writing, one of the things I did was go to Amazon and read a TON of first chapters. (I may write up something on how important … Continue reading Wanna Know How/Where to Start Your Novel?
DON’T PANIC: The Agent Edition
I know, I know... Telling someone to "Stop panicking" is like telling a person to stop aging, or to stop being hot while walking the strip in Vegas. In August. Here are a few things I see writers panic about when dealing with agents, and here's why I think you should not panic in these … Continue reading DON’T PANIC: The Agent Edition
A Few Fav Blurb/Query Helps
This is a post I've meant to do for AGES. I'm sure I'll come back and edit this post as I find new ways to write blurbs, but these are my favs... for now. Helping someone else with their blurb or query is simple. Working one up for myself? Not as simple. There was a blissful … Continue reading A Few Fav Blurb/Query Helps
the HONEYMOON phase
If you're a writer, you probably know how this applies to writing - That delightful time when you've found a shiny new idea and the character is solid in your mind and the words are flowing, and it's MAGIC. And you really don't want to do anything else or work on anything else because, hello, … Continue reading the HONEYMOON phase
Reading out Loud: A story
So, I'm working on a plot-driven novel rather than a character driven novel. If you've ever read one of my books, you'll know this is the OPPOSITE of what I normally do, but spreading writerly wings, remember? Anyway. I usually read out loud to Mike just after my first draft, when most of my book … Continue reading Reading out Loud: A story
Critique Like a Sandwich
So, my last post talked about how EGO is not for EDITING, and we got into a discussion about giving and receiving feedback, which turned into - HOW CAN I BE A BETTER CRIT PARTNER? Be Aware of Bias Critique Like a Sandwich - ALWAYS smoosh the not so great things, with the great things … Continue reading Critique Like a Sandwich
EGO is not for editing
I've seen a lot of authors struggle for years to get their books out into the world, and something that many of them have in common, is the unwillingness to accept critiques. There are a million reasons under the sun to keep something in your story the way you want to keep it, but when … Continue reading EGO is not for editing
Spreading Writerly Wings
2016 was a year of experimentation for me, writing and publishing wise. (yes, this post is a bit of a ME post...) I've branched into new areas of publishing by interning for a literary agency I have massive amounts of respect for. Yes, I'm doing this specifically to become a lit agent, but I'm taking … Continue reading Spreading Writerly Wings
Questions: THE BIG PICTURE
I don't care if you use these before you start to write, or if you're like me, and you puke out a first draft before you know what your book is about, but here are a few BIG PICTURE QUESTIONS to help your WIP. Or a project you're just beginning. Or something you've been thinking about … Continue reading Questions: THE BIG PICTURE
Crash and BURN
There's a lot to learn from crashing and burning. A lot. 2016 was the year of stretching my writerly wings. That means I fell down. A lot. And with the snail pace of publishing, I won't know if I have a "success" for a while, but being able to put something NEW on submission? That … Continue reading Crash and BURN
