Periodically someone will post on Facebook their opinion of a certain punctuation mark. Comments in response unfurl like a long serpent below the post. Neutrality tends not to exist in those comments. In this way I’ve learned that writers, in …
Writing Craft
If All the Writing I Do Today…
If all the writing I do today is sending a note to my English teacher, does that mean it hasn’t been a good day writing?
We often set our word count goals dangerously high, challenging ourselves to push harder than …
Creating Your Own Style Sheet
I was recently talking to Brittany Stonestreet, a friend who is finishing up her Masters in Publishing at the prestigious Emerson College in Boston. She mentioned she was just completing the style sheet for her newest YA novel. I
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Nonfiction Book Structure: The Table of Contents
As I mentioned in my most recent blog, a strong structure invites the reader into your book. Your table of contents is a big selling point–not only for readers but also for agents and editors. I like to think of …
Avoid Character Labels
I read a fiction manuscript last week that described a character as a cripple. I winced when I read the word and stopped to think about why I had such an immediate revulsion. After all, it was historical fiction and …
Finding Your Book’s Structure
A strong structure for your book sustains a reader’s interest. So today we’ll consider how to find your book’s structure.
Recently I was looking over the table of contents for a project one of my clients was creating. It seemed …
AI and Publishing’s Future
About a month ago, one of my daughters, who works for an online security company, startled me by the question she posed, “What is publishing doing to prepare for people who use AI to write books?”
I hadn’t paid much …
Why Writing Authentically Is so Hard
One aspect of a writer that I look for in a potential client is that she has a sense of who she is and what she should write. Not in a “I love my novel and WILL get it published” …
How to get your manuscript into shape after NANOWRIMO.
Are you participating in NANOWRIMO this year? I know at least one of my clients is. I hope you are all doing well with meeting your daily goals!
As you work toward finishing your manuscript, it’s important to think about …
How to get your manuscript into shape after NANOWRIMO.Read More
Why Do Some Poorly Written Books Sell Well?
I asked this question on Facebook: “Why do poorly written books sell well?” Here’s the feedback I received:
- Some spoke of the importance of story (and I agree.) A poorly written book with a knockout story will sell. We are