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Holy Shit Moment #3: Beware of Radical Subjectivism
I’d always known that when you’re writing a book in first person, you need to be careful not to accidentally shift perspectives. So, your Main Character would never say something like, “I looked...
View ArticleHoly Shit Moment #1 (Success Story included!)
It’s been almost six months since I started this blog, and my writing life has simply taken off since then. Six months ago, I was querying my first book, which, at the time, was my life. I’d spent...
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Author Interview: The Next Big Thing
The Next Big Thing is an idea from SheWrites meant to help female authors promote their WIPs. Earlier this week, Jeri Walker-Bickett tagged me in NBT. And, as per the rules, what follows are my answers...
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Keeping Neil Gaiman in Mind
The following is a list of truly great books: 1. American Gods 2. Wuthering Heights 3. Gilead 4. Ivanhoe 5. Mrs. Dalloway Now prepare to be hugely, HUGELY disappointed in me. Ready? I do not like any...
View ArticleNaNoWriMo Tip Week 1: Don’t forget to read
Though I’ve never done NaNoWriMo before, I have written 50,000 words in a single month; so I feel justified in giving you advice about how to finish the month with a great first draft. I will do so...
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NaNoWriMo Week 2: Beware of the 20,000-Word Wall
It happened again. I was writing and writing, and everything was going just splendidly. I typed a final sentence, and then I waited. The numbers went up, then down, and then they gave one final spike...
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NaNoWriMo Week 3: Yoda on Self-Doubt
If you’re participating in NaNo, you should be at about 30-35,000 words. Hell yeah! And if you’re not there yet, don’t worry. Despite what you may have been encouraged to believe, this is not a...
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What Authors Can Learn From Movies
Who didn’t love Silver Linings Playbook? The movie I mean. The book was kind of a letdown. I know that film adaptations are supposed to be mere bouillon cubes made from much bigger, tastier oxen, but...
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Five Tips on How to Start Writing Your Book
A few weeks ago, I traveled back to Ohio, where I got together with a few old friends. When I “came out” to them as a writer, I was surprised to hear how many either wrote fiction or wanted to write...
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Separating the Commercial from the Artistic
I am a writer, but I am also an editor. You would think those two occupations require much the same skill set, but they really don’t. As a writer, my job is to expresses what I want to express; as an...
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My Biggest Giveaway Yet!
Childhood does not prepare you for adulthood. In childhood, you get a rocking birthday party every freaking year, whereas as an adult, you’re lucky if your husband picks you up a cake from the grocery...
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The Winners!
Libby won a 15-page critique! Jon won a $40 gift card to a local bookstore! Adam won weird baked goods and a book! Thanks to everyone who entered.
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Point of View: Pick One! (Guest Post)
Today’s guest post in the I-just-decided-that-blogging-was-too-time-consuming-to-do-it-by-myself series comes from my lovely critique partner, Jeri Walker-Bickett, who gives us a quick tutorial on what...
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Write with Espresso; Edit with Martinis
I wrote my first draft of my WIP in two months. At the time, I was all smug about it, you know, the way people are when they’re really naive about stuff. I was like, “I can’t believe people spend a...
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Say No to Productivating, and Other Writerly Lessons
This past weekend, I had a wonderful Saturday NYC extravaganza with the multi-talented writer Alex Villasante. One of the many things we talked about (besides her pre-adolescent crush on John Denver)...
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Want to be a Novelist? Be Ordinary.
When it comes to being a novelist, one of the biggest hurdles I’ve had to overcome is that I’ve never thought I was particularly ‘gifted.’ I kept looking for evidence in my past, evidence that would...
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Having Trouble Finishing Your Novel?
I’ve started three books in the past year and finished zero of them. Three. I comfort myself that during this same period, I’ve been editing another book (which I did finish!), so really I’m not doing...
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