On Comedy
I’ve been a big fan of John Cleese ever since I first saw “Monty Python and the Holy Grail.” I don’t like just one of his works, I’ve been a fan of him both as a comic and a critic for more than forty years. So this weekend I listened to a few interviews he […]
You and Your List
Keeping a list is easy. You simply put up a web page and invite people to get on your mailing list. On your web page you can blog about anything that you like—your love of emperor penguins, your Aunt Sophie’s lime pie recipes, or your desire to backpack across Mars before you die. You don’t have to talk much about your writing at all, but you do need to start now.
Making a Good Impression
There is a saying among writers, “The first page of your book, sells your novel. The last page of your book sells your next novel.” In other words, your sales depend upon making a favorable impression. However, sometimes authors get lazy. They quit worrying about impressing readers. If you’ve had a string of hits, you […]
Using the Right Tools for the Right Writing Job
Frequently I see new writers make mistakes in their writing by choosing the wrong writing tools for the job. Now, the writing tools that I’m talking about are narration, dialogue, and description. These are the three main tools that we use in telling a story. In narration, we simply tell the reader information, often without […]
Spectacular Settings
When I’m looking at a story, one of the simple things I look at is setting. There are so many aspects to a setting, so let’s just look at a few: 1) Is your milieu intriguing? Many authors will set a story in the most blasé of places. Often, the story is set “somewhere in […]
Spectacular Settings
When I’m looking at a story, one of the simple things I look at is setting. There are so many aspects to a setting, so let’s just look at a few: 1) Is your milieu intriguing? Many authors will set a story in the most blasé of places. Often, the story is set “somewhere in […]
Don’t Stress Out!
One form of writer’s block comes from being stressed. This is almost always a temporary condition, and there are ways to work around it, but much depends on the source of your stress. Let’s say for example that you have set aside your Saturday mornings to write, and suddenly you get the news that your […]
Beating Writer’s Block
Many writers never have a problem with writer’s block, and so we sometimes say, “There’s no such thing.” But that’s not quite right. The truth is, there are various reasons why people feel “blocked,” which makes it hard sometimes to figure out why a writer is having problems. Here are the most common reasons for […]
10 Career Killers
Most writers kill their own writing careers. Several people asked me to write about some of the ways they do this. So I’m going to take a moment and just mention a few career killers. Some writers focus on appealing to the wrong crowd. Very often new writers will try to gain the approval of […]
Crossing the Finish Line
You may not know it, but you’re a racehorse. If you look at writers from a publisher’s point of view, that’s exactly what you are. You’re someone who writes glorious novels, and if you want to make a name for yourself, you’ll do it frequently—once a year or more. If you want to have publishers […]