Writing Advice From A YA Author Powered By Chocolate And Green Tea
Any writer who's had to write a query or a synopsis for a submission knows how hard it can be. Trying to boil the essence of your carefully crafted story to a few paragraphs, or a page seems like the hardest thing ever. I'm here to tell you it's not. And that's because there's a …
Happy New Year, everyone! It's time to get out of that magical land between Christmas and New Year when you're full of chocolate and cheese and don't know what day it is. 2020 brings the chance to start afresh, kick off some resolutions, and get back into the writing game. If, like me, you took …
Continue reading Getting Back On The Writing Track After The Holidays
I don't know how it was for you, but for me, 2019 went by in a blink. As is the tradition of the last few years, this week's blog is a roundup of some of your favorite posts, my favorite posts, and other writerly/life lessons discovered throughout the year. Blog Posts Your Favorite Blog Posts …
If you're wondering what gifts to get the writer in your life for Christmas, wonder no more! Keeping us writers happy doesn't take much effort. All we want is a million-dollar book deal, a Hollywood movie option, and all the awards—or at very least, the contact for a good agent. But we know asking for …
Continue reading A Holiday Gift Guide For The Writer In Your Life
The holidays are a time for relaxing and taking a break, even Stephen King doesn't write on Christmas day! But writers like to make ourselves feel guilty if we aren't penning down words, even when it's time for a well-earned break, so here are some tips for maintaining a creative output during the holidays. Make …
Continue reading Maintaining A Creative Output During The Holidays
We all know getting into good writing habits will see us complete our manuscripts, but what about those bad writing habits that don't help the process? You know what those habits are. They're the things that stop you from sitting at your keyboard regularly, eat up the precious part of the day set aside for …
The real truth of writing is that you will spend a lot of time editing. A. Lot. Of. Time. Hours, weeks, months, sometimes even years (or at least, what feels like years). When the rush of new ideas is gone. When the thrill of filling in plot holes and working out twists is over. When …
When you've been working on your manuscript for several years, you've read it more than a few times. In fact, you've probably read it so much you can quote whole paragraphs from it. It's a side effect of reading your words repeatedly, and the editing, rewriting, proofing—and let's just throw another edit in there because …
Continue reading Reading Your Book: Thoughts That Run Through Your Head
You know that meme where writers name their files "Final Draft", "Final Draft 2", "Final Draft 3", "Really Final Draft", "Really, Really Final Draft", "Seriously Final Draft" etc. I get that. I'm currently working on the sixth draft of an MS I literally named "Final Draft" three drafts ago. Past-Me probably thought it would be. Present-Me …
