How to End a Story Well
Today, I want to talk about the ending of your novel or short story. Most new writers don’t have a problem ending their story. After all, if you’re working on a large novel and you’ve spent a year or two of your life working toward the ending, the chances are excellent that you’ve had a long […]
Mystic Art
For many authors, writing itself is a mystical act. They don’t understand what impulses drive them to write, they can’t figure out where to begin, and yet they feel great joy in the act of creation. I think of these people as mystics. Very often, they understand the act of writing so poorly that all […]
6 Tips to Increase Your Brain Power
Here are some ideas to help you increase your ability to write and to brainstorm. 1) Learn your own biorhythms. The right side of your brain, the creative side, wakens and falls asleep on a cycle that is separate from your conscious mind. One signal that it is awake is that during the night, when […]
To Plot, or Not to Plot
A lot of writers wonder whether they should plot a book or not. The truth is that the vast majority of bestselling authors do plot out their books, but that isn’t always the case. There are some writers who don’t plot. They’re called “discovery writers,” and they tend to ponder each scene, write it down, […]
Choosing Your Editor
Have you ever thought about the fact that when you submit your lovingly written novel to a major publisher, you get to choose your editor? You choose your potential editor by submitting to that person. You write a letter of introduction, a synopsis of your novel, and send in a sample of your work—all in […]
How to Bore an Editor to Death
Last week I got sepsis, a serious infection that is carried through the body by the blood, and landed in the hospital. Not wanting to waste time just lying around, I decided to work on judging for the Writers of the Future with my handy laptop, and from reading hundreds of stories, listed some ways […]
The Changing Face of Publishing
More and more, I hear other writers worrying about the state of the industry. We’re in for a whopping big transition, one that is fraught with new difficulties and opportunities. For example, take the Kindle. As an author, it sounds great—getting people to buy your books electronically. But the new hardware merchandisers are creating schemes […]
The Curse of the Blank Page
Every new writer, and quite a few old ones, is familiar with that sinking feeling that happens when you start a new tale and wonder, “Where do I begin?” Many times when I’m judging a story for Writers of the Future, I’ll come upon a story that seems somehow malformed. The writing is great, but […]
Writing the Impossible
When I fell in love with the idea of writing, it was after reading my favorite novel of all time. I thought, I want to write stories like that, not realizing how big my dream really was. You see, when I meet new authors, I almost always find that they hope to write great works, […]
Poetics
Once I was rewriting a scene, listening closely to the sound and rhythm of the words in a passage, looking for ways to strengthen it, and it made me wonder: how many new writers take the proper care with their words? How many truly listen? There are a number of ways to show that you’re […]