The Rewrite Rules!

In April of 2011, I hit a wall in my book. This was not a “I need a break” or “I’m tired” or “this is hard” wall. Writers don’t get breaks. We’re always tired. And writing is never not hard. This was a “this is not working” wall. There was a fundamental flaw in my… Read more »

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Why Writers Should Be On Pinterest

When I first saw the site, I didn’t understand why writers should be on Pinterest. Nonetheless, I joined with the best of intentions. It wouldn’t help my writing, but I would dress like a model without spending a dime. My apartment would look like a spread in Good Housekeeping. I would feast every. Single. Day. That… Read more »

Use a Mood Board to Boost Your Writing

In a past  life (i.e. my early 20’s), I studied graphic design and worked as a toy developer. I designed hundreds of toys in those few short years and in the process learned a lot of techniques that would help my writing later on. When you work in a creative industry like toy design, you… Read more »

What Writers Can Learn from Children’s Books

Today I am so excited to be hosting literary agent, Mary Kole. Aside from her role as Senior Literary Manager at Movable Type Management, Mary is also the mastermind behind the website KidLit.com where she shares tons of excellent information for writers. While her primary focus is children’s books (affectionately called “KidLit” by those in… Read more »

Start Here: Being Your Own Muse

Once you hit your creative flow, working on your manuscript can be a blast. But sometimes, the muse just doesn’t want to come. Well, forget the muse–you can get the creative juices flowing all on your own. I’ve spent five years in the creative industry, and when a client deadline hits, you need something to show them whether… Read more »

Q&A With An Editor: The Acquisitions Process

In December, I had the opportunity to attend the Random House Open House. It was a fabulous event, providing valuable information to writers and readers alike. One of the highlights of the open house, though, was a panel discussion with Ballantine publishing team behind Justin Cronin’s bestselling book THE PASSAGE–and now the sequel THE TWELVE. This… Read more »

Build Your Online Writing Community

The last two posts have covered building your writing community through in-person events or via classes and workshops. Today we’ll look at options for building your community online. The hardest part of writing an article about online writing communities is that there are so many of them it’s almost impossible to make sense of all… Read more »

Build Your Community (Part 2): Writing Classes and Workshops

In our last article, we talked about building your community through in-person events like conferences, author readings or other such gatherings. Today we’ll address the issue of using writing classes and workshops as a way to meet and connect with other writers. Wait, what? You read that right. I’m suggesting that one great way to… Read more »

Build Your Writing Community: In-Person Events

Writing can be lonely work. As writers we spend most of our time working alone so a community of like-minded creative people can bring a ray of social light to an otherwise solitary existence. But how do you go about finding that magical group of writers to call your own? How do you find a… Read more »