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On a Positive Note: 5 Ways To Get Good Revision Notes From Others
When it comes to feedback on fiction projects, I have a favorite type of revision note that I like to receive. (That’s not hard to distinguish since most make me want to lie down or scream, “WHY???”)I...
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Why You Need a Literary Agent: Novelist Bernadette Pajer Interviews Her...
Emerging writers often ask me if literary agents are necessary in today’s publishing world. I say, emphatically, yes! Why? Because after the current turbulent evolution of publishing stabilizes,...
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Debut Author Interview: Wendy Welch, Author of the Memoir THE LITTLE...
I love featuring interviews with first-time book writers on my blog. It’s a rare treat that I get to sit down and talk with a debut memoir writer, but that’s just what’s happening today. Meet author...
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The 9 Ingredients of Character Development
I remember back when cameras had something inside them called film that you had to get developed. For those of you college-aged or younger, that’s where a technician would treat the film with some...
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4 Ways to Build Healthy Relationships with Your Readers
I wrote Anne Rice an email. She wrote me back fifteen minutes later. I couldn’t believe it. Here I was, a stranger, and she immediately wrote me a kind, friendly note.(Word count for novels...
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5 Tips to Help You Make Your Deadline
Writing is one thing. A deadline is quite another. These tips are for the writer who is close enough to see the light at the end of the tunnel, but far enough away to truly believe that the tunnel...
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The More You Will It, The Better Your Chances: An Inspirational Story For...
GIVEAWAY: Eliot is excited to give away a free copy of his collection to a random commenter. Comment within 2 weeks; winners must live in Canada/US to receive the book by mail. You can win a blog...
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Writer’s Block: 5 Ways to Get Rid of It
Writers get stuck. Pretty much all of us. If you never do, please tell me how you’ve achieved that because I (and a lot of other people, I expect!) would kill for that secret. But chances are, you do...
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How to Get a Scene from Brain to Paper
Different writers have difficulty with different parts of the writing process. Some hate fiddling with background information. Others despise revising. Others can’t stand outlining. Me? I have the most...
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Are Blogs The New Journals?
My novel came out in June 2012 — it’s a portrait of two women, including one revealed through her journals after her death. Shortly after it was released, I got an interesting email from a reader. The...
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Agent Nephele Tempest Teaches You How to Write an Excellent Synopsis: April...
Writing a synopsis is usually one of the most difficult things about pitching a novel. It’s incredibly difficult to summarize your entire book in just one page. How do you condense all that info? What...
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How to Write in the Face of Rejection
My book, Wedlocked, is a memoir about a rough patch (imagine Grand Canyon) in my marriage. It considers what it looks and feels like to be a lonely human inside a marriage, what it looks and feels like...
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Subverting Adverbs and Clichés
Writers constantly have rules thrown at them left, right, and center. Show, don’t tell! Stop using so many dialogue tags! More sensory detail! More tension! Speed up the pace! Yada yada yada … it can...
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How to Promote Your Book (Part 2): Book Tours, Publicity, Video Trailers and...
This is part II of Steve’s blog series on book promotion & publicity. See part I here.———————Congratulations! You’ve just written your first book (or 10th). Now comes the hard part: making sure...
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7 Ways to Overcome Writer’s Block
If you’re struggling with writer’s block, don’t get discouraged. This happens to every great writer at some point, and it’s easy to overcome it. I get stuck many times in the middle of a novel. I lose...
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How to Keep Writing in the Face of Rejection
If you’re a writer submitting your work publication, chances are you’ve faced rejection. I certainly have; by the time I made my first sale, I had earned over three hundred rejections for my...
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5 Tips for How to Write a Young Adult Crossover Novel
It feels strange to give anyone advice about writing a book, especially about how to write one that will appeal to both adults and young adults. With That’s Not a Feeling, I didn’t really know what I...
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5 Ways to Build Solid Relationships in Your Story
Relationships are an important part of all stories. Letting them happen naturally can make or break believability. (In other words, we must avoid “Insta-Love.”) Here are tests you can apply to your...
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How to Write a Novel: 7 Tips Everyone Can Use
1. Write the story you’d most want to read. Don’t write a story just because you think it might be a bestseller or that it would make Great Aunt Edna proud. Think about the books you love, the ones you...
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Writing Routines that Work
If you’re familiar with even a handful of author biographies, then you know this: There’s no single recipe for becoming a writer. For every party-loving Fitzgerald, there’s an Emily Dickinson who...
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