The thought of writing love scenes sends many authors running for the hills, but love scenes are my favorite scenes to write. It’s a chance for two characters who have spent a good chunk of the story pining for each other and bantering to take things to the next level physically. Here are five tips… Read more »
As a professional book launch coach and an author myself, I’ve discovered the biggest obstacle to having a successful career is…drumroll…your writer’s brain and its propensity to think dramatic thoughts. Yes, the same brain that creates a brilliant and complicated plot for your novel will also try to sink your career before it even leaves the… Read more »
A well-written story is a well-paced story. It is in the rhythm and flow of events that readers find themselves on a heart-thumping adventure with the characters. And there are only a few stories that occur during an uninterrupted, brief period. Most, however, are spaced out in a span of days, weeks, months, or years…. Read more »
One of the most frequent things that writers complain about is finding time to write. And then when we do find time to write, all of these distractions are calling us away from our writing. Today, guest poster Sarah Van Arsdale shares her advice for how to resist and get some work done. 1. Shut… Read more »
Everyone has heard that common writing advice about getting your butt in the chair, yet so many writers struggle to do just that. If you’re anything like me, you’ll recognize this typical scene that plays out in my house constantly. My husband comes into the living room and shuts off the TV while I am… Read more »
Hey kids! Thanks for checking in, genius writer. I worry. I worry because you never call nor write. Texting counts as writing these days. But you never text me. You send your grandmother your TikTok posts. Me? I get nothing. So, why should I, the author of four books, a fifth and sixth forthcoming, share… Read more »
Agonizing dread arrests most writers at the prospect of revisiting their old work – especially an essay collection. Our revision reflex activities and work that was due but (at least in your mind) not necessarily done is suddenly in need of a fresh coat of paint. We obsess over what we could have said, done,… Read more »
Too many novels go unfinished. Writers give up in frustration because they run out of ideas, they get stuck, or they become overwhelmed by self-doubt. This often happens because writers have unrealistic expectations about the novel-writing process. Through my own struggles with writing a novel, as well as my work with other writers, I’ve seen… Read more »
As writers, I think we can all agree that copyediting is an important part of the publishing process. We know that if a reader notices an error, it will probably take him out of the lucid dream of reading. Do that enough times, and he’ll sigh with disgust and toss the book/article/essay aside for good…. Read more »
When you are writing a memoir, you spend a lot of your time excavating a past that is often elusive. To bring a memory to life on the page, you have to call up all the myriad details that filled it with emotion and meaning at the time, and the full force of any memory… Read more »
