Category Archives: Opinion

Articles, Blog, Craft, Opinion, Writing and Publishing

About This Writing Stuff…

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This week, Ruth Harris reminds us that writing is a marathon, not a sprint while Meghan Ward offers tips for ramping up the action in our stories.

Jami Gold provides a three-part series on point of view, Kristen Lamb discusses the benefits of using an unreliable narrator, Sandra Beckwith guides us through the challenges of book marketing, and Chris Winkle walks us through plotting a novel series.

All that, and a little more. Enjoy!

A Writer’s Guide to Patience, Practice, and Persistence by Ruth Harris via Anne R. Allen

Is Your Story a Bit Lazy? Five Ways to Improve the Action by Meghan Ward via Anne R. Allen

7 Questions to Ask Before Creating Your Book Marketing Plan by Sandra Beckwith

Is Our Story’s Point of View Really What We Think It Is? by Jami Gold

How Does Our Characters POV Affect Our Story? by Jami Gold

What Do Readers Want from a Story’s POV? by Jami Gold

Deception as a Storytelling Device: Introducing the Unreliable Narrator by Kristen Lamb

Will China’s Entry into U.S. Publishing Lead to Censorship? by Ed Nawotka

How to Plot a Novel Series by Chris Winkle

Getting Comfortable with Failure by Jael McHenry

Into the Woods by Dave King

Learning from Pinocchio: Creating Charaters Who Are Fully Alive by Barbara Linn Probst

 

Articles, Blog, Craft, Opinion, Writing and Publishing

About This Writing Stuff…

This week, Melodie Campbell offers advice on how to save that sagging middle in your novel while Penny Sansevieri shows you how to optimize your Amazon Author Central page.

Jennie Nash provides a short checklist of common mistakes that might land your manuscript in the rejection pile and Jami Gold explores how our characters can drive the narrative—despite our best laid plans.

Esther Jones extols the benefits of reading SF and fantasy,  Julie Glover defends the practice of editing as you go, and Donald Maass helps us to understand how to develop a meaningful narrative.

All that and a little more. Enjoy!

My Novel is as Mess: How to Survive the Chaos Point in Your Novel by Melodie Campbell via Anne R. Allen

Science Fiction Builds Mental Resiliency in Young Readers by Esther Jones

5 Quick Fixes for Making the Most of Author Central (and Why it Should be a Top Priority) by Penny Sansevieri

Do Your Characters Take on a Life of Their Own? by Jami Gold

In Defense of Editing as You Go by Julie Glover

The Secret to More Efficient Revision: Pattern Recognition by Jennie Nash

The Meaning of Meaning by Donald Maass

The Art of Condensing an Entire Book into a Brief Sales Pitch by Florence Osmund

Six Common Problems with Short Stories by Oren Ashkenazi

The Rich Can’t Hide from a Plague. Just Ask Edgar Allan Poe by Maya Phillips

Articles, Blog, Craft, Opinion, Writing and Publishing

About This Writing Stuff…

This week, we start strong right out of the gate with Gabino Iglesias and ten types of authors who, let’s just say, he doesn’t like.

Anne R. Allen advises us on how to prepare for life after death on social media, while Hank Phillippi Ryan, Brian Andrews, and Meg Dowell offer tips on writing—and surviving—during the pandemic.

Jami Gold reviews the concept of Scene and Sequel, the folks at Now Novel wax lyrical about crafting captivating prose, and Callie Sutcliffe differentiates between creating a new draft of your work versus editing.

All that and a little more. Enjoy!

Ten Types of Authors Who Can Go F*ck Themselves by Gabino Iglesias

Don’t Become a Social Media Ghost: Appoint a Social Media Executor by Anne R. Allen

Getting Your Writer Brain Back on Track by Hank Phillippi Ryan

A Submariner’s Guide to Crisis and Isolation by Brian Andrews

12 Tips for Writing When You’re Not Calm and the World is Burning by Meg Dowell

Scenes & Sequels: Adding Reflections for Meaning by Jami Gold

Can Comic Books Survive the Coronavirus Era? by Dave Itzkoff

Using Letters in Creative Work—What Writers Should Know About Copyright Protection by Matt Knight

The Practice Novel by Dave King

First Draft, Second Draft, or Editing: How to Know What Draft You’re On by Callie Sutcliffe

Lyrical Writing: 5 Tips for Crafting Richer Prose by Now Novel

 

 

 

Articles, Blog, Opinion, Writing and Publishing

About This Writing Stuff…

This week, Robert Lee Brewer presents several examples of successful query letters categorized by genre. Anne R. Allen offers methods for rescuing a stagnant manuscript as well as an analysis of Amazon’s increasingly stringent review system.

Over at Mythcreants, Oren Ashkenazi discusses ways to avoid recycling the same types of conflict within your story while on Writer Unboxed,  Donald Maass discusses the dread and anxiety that propel our protagonists forward. No one likes to receive one-star reviews, but Sandra Beckwith explains how writers can learn from them.

All that and little more. Enjoy!

How to Write Successful Queries for Any Genre of Writing by Robert Lee Brewer

How to Rescue an Endangered Book and Restore Your Author Mojo by Anne R. Allen

Amazon’s Review Rules Have Become Even Stricter in 2020 by Anne R. Allen

Space Kadet: The Twisted Tale of a Sad, Sad Internet Troll by Victoria Strauss

Six Tips for Avoiding Repetitive Conflict by Oren Ashkenazi

5 Important Tips for Achieving Indie Author Success by Dave Chesson

3 Reasons to Embrace One-Star Reader Reviews by Sandra Beckwith

Writing Craft: How Point-of-View Affects Dialogue by Jami Gold

‘Emergency’ Online Library Draws Ire of Some Authors by Alexander Alter

Will Online-Only Events Bring Book Sales? No One Knows Yet by Kate Dwyer

The Upside of Anxiety by Donald Maass

 

Articles, Blog, Craft, Opinion, Writing and Publishing

About This Writing Stuff…

This week, Christopher Cybusz explains what it means to write SF today. Lynn Steger Strong ponders whether you can afford to be a writer without the help of other people’s money while Anne R. Allen cites idiotic advice offered to new writers.

Joslyn Chase and Gabriel Valjean discuss, respectively, five writing rules and styles to learn… before you attempt to break them. Jami Gold reminds us that just as we were helped by mentors or other resources in our writing journey, we should take the time to pay it forward.

Over at the Write Practice, Joe Bunting defines the inciting incident and the denouement and provides examples of each. Oh, and Simon & Schuster is up for sale if anyone has a few bucks to spare.

All that and a little more. Enjoy!

How to Write Science Fiction by Christopher Cybusz

Local Bookstores Have a New Weapon in the Fight with Amazon by Joan Verdon

A Dirty Secret: You Can Only Be A Writer If You Can Afford It by Lynn Steger Strong

Clueless Advice People Give New Writers: 10 Things to Ignore by Anne R. Allen

Five Writing Crimes and How to Get Away With Them by Gabriel Valjean

Five Writing Style Tips to Make Your Writing Stronger by Joslyn Chase

How Can Writers Pay It Forward? by Jami Gold

Simon & Schuster is Up for Sale by Edmund Lee and Alexandra Alter

Denouement: Definition and Examples of the Literary Term by Joe Bunting

Inciting Incident: Definition, Examples, Types, and How to Start a Story Right by Joe Bunting

Power Up Your Prose with Rhetorical Devices by Suzanne Purvis via Janice Hardy

 

 

 

 

Articles, Blog, Craft, Opinion, Writing and Publishing

About This Writing Stuff…

This week, Lawrence Block reminds us that while real life often does not make sense, our fiction must. Ruth Harris provides a handy checklist on effective dialogue while Jami Gold and Janice Hardy expound ways to ensure that our characters are not puppets to plot.

Calling all Scrivener users, Gwen Hernandez and Joslyn Chase offer tips on using some of the app’s features to organize our work.

Jennifer L. Harris shows us how to determine whether or not our story ideas will support a full-length novel. Over at the Write Practice, David Stafford reviews methods for applying the principle’s of the Hero’s Journey, and Jane Friedman delivers a comprehensive guide to writing query letters.

All that a little more. Enjoy!

Stop Making Sense: Explaining Some Fiction Rules of Logic by Lawrence Block

He Said. She Said. Fifteen Keys to Writing Great Dialogue by Ruth Harris

How Can We Make Our Protagonist More Proactive? by Jami Gold

Things to Consider When Adding a POV Character by Janice Hardy

What is Causing the Uptick in Independent Bookstores? by Mike Shatzkin

Using Bookmarks in Scrivener 3 for Quick Access to Supporting Materials by Gwen Hernandez

How to Use Scrivener to Write Scenes That Work by Joslyn Chase

5 Essential Hero’s Journey Themes and Symbolic Archetypes That Will Thrill Your Readers by David Stafford

The Complete Guide to Query Letters by Jane Friedman

13 Tips for Writers Who Just Want to Finish Something For Once by Meg Dowell

How to Test Your Story Idea: Is Your Idea Strong Enough to Support a Novel? by Jennifer L. Harris

Why I Don’t Write Every Day by Phoebe Quinn