David Farland’s Writing Tips: Deadly Writing Sins
Anciently, monks tried to evaluate sins to determine which were the most deadly. Is it worse to compose rude Facebook posts or to funnel money to terrorist organizations? Is it worse to eat carbs or throw hamsters into meat grinders? Obviously, we could create a hierarchy of sins a hundred pages long, and it wouldn’t […]
David Farland’s Writing Tips: “Writing for a Living”
David Farland’s Writing Tips: “Writing for a Living” As Cicero put it over 2000 years ago, “Times are bad. Children no longer obey their parents, and everyone is writing a book.” What was true in Rome is true today. We’re facing a global downturn in the economy due to the Corona virus. Whenever that kind […]
David Farland Writing Tips: Writing The Fight Scene
In many novels you will have a fight scene—everything from a verbal scuffle as two people break up to a major battle, and because this is often the climax to your story, you might want to approach the scene cautiously. Years ago, with my first novel, I had one critic say that in On My […]
David Farland’s Writing Tips: “The One Great Story”
What stories affect you profoundly? Which ones are your favorites? If you had to make a list of the three most influential of stories, could you? About 15 years ago, I heard a wise publisher say that, and I’ll paraphrase, “there is only one great story. It’s the story of a young person who loses […]
David Farland’s Writing Tips: “Mental Toughness”
As writers, we’re faced with lots of different types of stresses. It’s not always just searching for the right word in a description or trying to meet a story deadline. While working on novels, I’ve had to deal with just about everything. For example, I was once deep in writing a great scene when […]
David Farland’s Writing Tips—Writing Superstars
When you begin writing, you go through different phases. As a “wannabe,” you may begin practicing writing as a hobby and start developing your talents. As a “first-time author” you may begin winning notoriety and further developing your skills—learning to organize your time, gauging the markets, and so on. As a “midlist author” you’re […]
David Farland’s Writing Tip: Touching Your Audience Deeply through Viewpoint
Almost every time a book is made into film, you will hear the comment over and over, “The book was better.” Some time ago I was talking to a friend of Christopher Paolini, whose novel Eragon was made into a movie, and some fans of the books were so disappointed in the film adaptation, […]
Read and Write Your Own Contracts
Very often I meet writers who can’t discuss even the most basic points of their publishing contracts. They’re afraid to even read them. They’ll make the excuse, “Oh, I had my agent (or attorney) handle the contract.”
Publishing Tips for 2018 and Beyond
One of the most frequently asked questions that I get is, “As a writer in 2018, should I go Indie, or try to publish traditionally?” It’s not a question that I can easily answer. The reason is that it depends in part upon the genre that you’re publishing in, in part upon your personality (Are […]
Building a Better Battering Ram – “When do I begin approaching agents?”
“When do I begin approaching agents?” I get that question at least once a week, and my answer is always the same: “When your novel is done. And by that I mean, well done!” I think that it is human nature to be eager. When we are working on a novel, and we’re excited about […]