When National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) is reaching its end, it is time to start thinking about how you will edit your new masterpiece. As you enter the new year, there will be plenty of time to make tweaks and rewrites so you can reach your goal of one day publishing your work. Many writers can be hard on themselves when it comes to editing, … Continue reading Tips for Editing Your NaNoWriMo Work in the New Year
There are many skills and personal traits that can help you be a better writer. Confidence might not be the first one to come to mind, but it’s more important than you might think. If you want to be successful as a writer, you need to believe in your work and your abilities. You also need to be confident enough to share your work with … Continue reading Tips for Building Confidence as a Writer
At least 8% of US adults are affected by attention deficit hyperactive disorder (ADHD). Folks who live with ADHD find it difficult to focus and may have a hard time regulating their behavior. However, an ADHD diagnosis doesn’t mean you can’t complete challenging, focus-intensive tasks like writing the next big YA thriller or children’s adventure book. Even famous writers like Agatha Christie and George Bernard … Continue reading Focusing Your Attention While Writing with ADHD
One of the most common pieces of advice given to writers is that their manuscripts must be complete and as perfect as possible before querying agents or editors. That is true in most cases, but there are some instances where complete manuscripts are not required. In fact, just a proposal will do. What? I have an idea for a book, a really good idea, and … Continue reading Writing on Proposal: A Different Option
It’s always fun when there’s good news to share, and today is one of those days. You may know Angela Ackerman & Becca Puglisi, the authors of The Emotion Thesaurus. Well, I’m a big believer in the helpfulness of their books and so joined their Street Team for The Conflict Thesaurus: A Writer’s Guide to Obstacles, Adversaries, and Inner Struggles (Vol. 1). It’s just released, and I am so … Continue reading A New Writing Guide for You: The Conflict Thesaurus +Giveaway
As writers, we spend most of our time writing – as we should. We draft then revise, revise, revise, and revise until our manuscript is as perfect as possible. Then we move on to the next step. Query, query, query. Let’s go one further and say we sign with an agent. What now? More querying, but this time your agent is querying editors. It’s called … Continue reading A Peek into the Life of an Editor
If you read this blog regularly, you know I am an author, and may also know I have had several careers in my adult life. Four to be exact. While signing copies of my new novel at my independent bookstore (author – career number three), I was told about an open bookseller position. I love books, as an author you have to, and I love … Continue reading Thoughts From a Bookseller
Every single time I sit down to write something — whether it’s a novel chapter or fundraising copy or an email to a colleague — I feel a moment of fear: Can I do this? Will people respond to it? Am I too ambitious? Am I good enough? What if I can’t? Fear can be paralyzing. In its most severe forms, it causes (or at … Continue reading Fear Factor: How to embrace your fear and keep creating
I recently wrapped up a writing project. Two middle-grade books written in under 4 months. It was a fun project, but the short timeline made it stressful. (For more about that, see my article on Work-for-Hire Writing.)
I turned the second book over to a critique partner to read for me and as I breathed a sigh of relief at having a couple days off, I began thinking about the project I’d pick up once this one was submitted . . . Continue reading Celebrate Your Writing Milestones!
This past year, I’ve written three posts about the debut year. Peeking Inside a Debut Group, The Debut Timeline, and Launching and Marketing Your Book. It has been a wonderful and enlightening year. Many things about the debut process surprised me, but nothing more than the aftereffects of the whole process. Well, really just one. I mentioned in the post about launching and marketing your novel … Continue reading The Surprising Aftereffects of the Debut Novel
Tips on launching and marketing your book from debut authors @Halli_Gomez, @anya_writes, and @jsamtaylor #the21ders #writingcommunity #writerlife Continue reading Launching and Marketing Your Book. Tips From Debut Authors.
If you are asked to list the writing advice you’ve been given, your list will be similar to others. Show don’t tell. The three act structure. Write what you know. This last one is what we’re going to look at today. Specifically, what it means, what the perks are, and how to do it. The phrase write what you know means to choose an aspect … Continue reading Write What You Know. What Does That Mean?
