In a post last week, I warned (complained about) how going into a writing session with no plan can be very unproductive if you’re not careful. The way to prevent that is to set goals. I always like to push the idea that, as writers, we need to set written, daily goals and commit to […]
How NOT to write
Allow me to gripe, if you will… I went to Scooters with a good 90 minutes to write today. Total freedom. And I don’t mean freedom from the kids or anything like that. I’m currently caught up on all of my writing stuff for the rest of the weekend. The first round of my novel […]
3 Most Common Mistakes I Find in My Own Fiction
After spending the last few years writing, reading, and learning as much as I could about writing fiction and the “right” way to do things, I’ve also learned a lot about the wrong way. Not only through Theme of Absence, but also from my own work. In fact, most of what I discovered came from […]
3 Pitfalls of Writing in the First person
How often do you write a story in the first person that feels so real–so natural–that after you finish you are certain that you have completed a near-perfect work of art? If you’re a newer writer, this feeling might be quite common when you first start writing with the first person narrative. It’s pretty enticing […]
Writing a query letter? Check out this free e-book!
Cool! Here’s a free e-book by Noah Lukeman (the author of The First Five Pages: A Writer’s Guide To Staying Out of the Rejection Pile). To me, writing the query letter is just as difficult as writing the novel. Agents and editors are busy. You may have only one or two seconds to grab their […]
3 Overused Character Traits to Avoid
I know. You’re supposed to create interesting, flawed characters with compelling back-stories. The last thing you want is for a rejection letter to tell you that you have flat, dull characters. So what do you do? Like all good writers, you try to make your characters deeper by giving them some interesting baggage from their […]
5 Surefire Ways to Fail at Writing
Magazines and blogs about writing (including this one) are plumb full of advice on what to do to improve your writing and your chances of publication. On the other side of the coin, here’s a list of five things that will get in your way. 1. Not taking writing seriously The first way you’re guaranteed […]
5 Things You Need to do RIGHT NOW if You Want to Start Writing
This post is for the person who has always wanted to write but hasn’t started yet. Or the person who might have started writing something a couple of times, but never actually finished a short story. Or maybe even for the person who casually writes fiction, but hasn’t gotten serious about it yet. It’s five […]
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