Author | Editor | Story Coach
Writing isn’t always fun, and it certainly isn’t always easy. But if you persevere, you can finish your book. But what can you do if you’re struggling to finish the first draft? Maybe the struggle looks something like this: You’re writing. The story is flowing and the characters cooperating. Then you hit a wall. What …
I’m a professional author. That means I write a story and send it off to my publisher. Right? Wrong. In most cases, most professional authors write a manuscript and return to it to rewrite, revise (not the same as rewriting), edit (not the same as revising) and polish (a cat of an entirely different color) …
I love my job. Writing stories and articles and study books delights and excites me. But… Don’t you hate when people say something good and then ruin it with a but? I like your hair, but…it looks like you’re stuck in the 80s Your dog is so pretty, but…he has no manners at …
The month is halfway over. Maybe you’re on track to finish NaNoWriMo with 50,000 words by November 30. Or maybe not. But even if you only have 12,000 words written, you can still win. No, I’m not crazy. I believe in setting a goal and making yourself reach it. Even if it means skipping dinner. …
This spring, I’ve had my second – and third – encounter with a group of beta readers. Even as my stinging ego debates whether they are the bane of my existence or a boon to my career, I can’t deny they are essential. If you’re a writer, you need beta readers. Further, you need beta …
No one who has actually ever written a book thinks they want to write a book. They like telling stories. They enjoy playing with words. Creating things using sentences and punctuation as opposed to brushstrokes and paint is very appealing to them. When we sit down to write a book, we don’t think we’re going …
I love having a plan. It’s exciting to finish the first draft of the series I’m writing and know that I have the next steps carefully scheduled. “I love it when a plan comes together,” says Hannibal Smith on The A-Team. What about when the plan wilts like a tulip in the hot sun? I …