Tag Archives: anne r allen

About This Writing Stuff…

This week, Charlie Jane Anders encourages us to write what is in our hearts regardless of current events. At Career Authors, David Bell provides five reasons for outlining your novel, while over at IndieReader, Savannah Cordova shows us five ways to get your novel noticed on Amazon.

Marlene Cullen explains how to use the freewrite method to chronicle traumatic experiences. Jami Gold delves into the risks and benefits of foreshadowing. John Gilstrap warns us against second guessing our writing. Kristen Lamb demonstrates how the Johari Window can be used to provide depth to our characters. Tajja Isen discusses the importance of sensitivity readers for stories involving minority characters.

Congratulations to writer pal, Amanda Headlee, on winning the “When Words Count Pitch Week XVII contest” with her upcoming horror novel, My Brother’s Keeper.

All that and a lot more. Enjoy!

Never Say You Can’t Survive: Everything is Broken! What Should I Write About? by Charlie Jane Anders

5 Tips for Navigating a Successful Novel Outline by David Bell

Freewrite: How to Write About Traumatic Events Without Adding More Trauma by Marlene Cullen

5 Tips for Getting Your Book Noticed on Amazon by Savannah Cordova

What’s the Point of Foreshadowing? by Jami Gold

Eyes Front by John Gilstrap

Pulp Diction. What We Can Learn from the Noir Czars by PJ Parrish

How to Characterize by James Scott Bell

The Johari Window: Understanding and Harnessing the Character Blind Spot by Kristen Lamb

Parody, Satire, and Fan Fiction: What’s the Difference? by Matt Knight

How Not to Write a Book About a Minority Experience by Tajja Isen

6 Ways to Incorporate a Dash of Foreign Language by Kathryn Craft

Blurbing and Being Blurbed by Barbara Linn Probst

How the Rising Action Works in a Story by Joe Bunting

Meet the Pitch Week XVII Finalists from When Worlds Collide!

 

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

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

 

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 

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

 

 

 

 

About This Writing Stuff…

This week, Kristine Kathryn Rusch summarizes exciting opportunities brewing in the audio book space while Anne R. Allen instructs us on writing the almighty query letter.

We’re often inundated with lessons on time management to help us balance our workloads and achieve our writing goals, but Paula Munier reminds us that it’s equally important to set boundaries and learn to say NO.

On a related note, Jami Gold shares the frustrations of juggling contradictions in the writing and publishing world based on a glorious article from Kali Wallace (included below) about the pressures and stresses placed on writers today.

Matt Knight discusses cover art copyright and Kathryn Craft offers methods for handling leaps of time in our narrative. Meanwhile, trolls and sockpuppets continue to erode the value of Goodreads.

All that and a little more. Enjoy!

Business Musings: The Future of Audio by Kristine Kathryn Rusch

How to Write a Professional, Not-Embarrassing Query to an Agent, Reviewer, Editor, or Blogger by Anne R. Allen

The Key to a Writer’s Productivity: Just Say No by Paula Munier

Your Heart is a Moving Target by Kali Wallace

Writing and Publishing are Full of Contradictions by Jami Gold

12 Tips for New Public Speakers by Debbie Burke

Can a Work of Fiction about the Holocaust be Inaccurate? by Patrick Freyne

Looking Deeper into the Goodreads Troll Problem by Camestros Felapton

Book Covers and Copyrights by Matt Knight

The Compelling, Emotional Complex Sentence by Jeanne Cavelos

Bridging Temporal Story Gaps by Kathryn Craft

 

 

About This Writing Stuff…

This week, Harrison Demchick delivers a comprehensive four-part series on Point of View.* Over at Mythcreants, Chris Winkle talks specifically about omniscient narration and Anthony Ehlers at Writer Write touches on ways to spice up your writing by changing POV.

(*Mr. Demchick will be a guest at The Write Stuff writers conference in March in Bethlehem, PA!)

Anne R. Allen offers advice on writing your final chapter while Peter Selgin warns against wasting the first one. James Scott Bell encourages us to find the one thing at the heart of your novel.

Matthew V. Clemens sites one of my all-time favorite films as the apotheosis of suspense—which is precisely what Allison Brennan discusses in her article about pacing.

All that and a lot more. Enjoy!

How to Write Better Fiction Using Limited Point of View by Harrison Demchick

How to Choose the Best Point of View for Your Story’s Purpose by Harrison Demchick

How to Rely on the Unreliable Narrator by Harrison Demchick

How to Exploit Uncommon Points of View in Your Novel by Harrison Demchick

Writing Your Final Chapter: 6 Do’s and Don’ts for Bringing Your Novel to a Satisfying Conclusion by Anne R. Allen

Secrets of Suspense: What I Learned from JAWS by Matthew V. Clemens

Pacing: The Key to Scintillating Suspense by Allison Brennan

What One Thing is Your Novel About? by James Scott Bell

Five Essentials of Omniscient Narration by Chris Winkle

Taxes and the Writer—The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 by Matt Knight

Fiction Contests Worth Your Time in Winter 2019 by Arthur Klepchukov

When Your Story Opening Does Nothing but Blow Smoke by Peter Selgin via Jane Friedman

Revive Dull Descriptions with Simple Tweaks in Viewpoint by Anthony Ehlers

How Do You Find the Plot of a Story? Using Scenarios by Now Novel

A Home Library Can Have a Powerful Effect on Children by Robby Berman