Anne R. Allen's Blog... with Ruth Harris
Writing about writing. Mostly.
Guest Post by Becca Puglisi Fear is a powerful emotion. That makes it an incredibly potent storytelling tool. When characters feel threatened—physically, emotionally, or psychologically—the stakes go up, and suddenly, every choice, reaction, and perception matters. Fear taps into something primal, activating survival instincts in the character and empathy in the reader, creating an […]
GUEST POST by Jeremy Esekow A few months ago, my company, Storywise, ran a writing competition that felt slightly reckless, but completely necessary. We pitted humans against AI storytelling. I came into this from two very personal places. First, as an author. I’ve sent out countless query letters over the years. Most were met with […]
by Anne R. Allen The mistakes new writers make are pretty universal. I’m pretty sure I made all of them. I foisted my fledging work on everybody, my friends, online acquaintances, and even the occasional date. Most were kinder than they needed to be. But I also lost some friends. So here’s what happens […]
by Anne R. Allen I recently had a strong reminder of the importance of the first impression. I’m still recovering from my December bout of pneumonia, which put me in the hospital for several days. My recovery from the hospital may take more time than my recovery from pneumonia. Why? Because everybody at the […]
by Anne R. Allen I’m home from the hospital recovering from pneumonia. But as we come to the final chapter of 2025, I thought I’d post some of my tips from earlier posts on how to end your novel or memoir. If you’re like most writers, you may have trouble getting that final chapter to […]
by Anne R. Allen The phrase “what’s my motivation” is a joke in the theater world. I remember rehearsing for a production of Alice in Wonderland when the actor playing the (very minor) role of the Cook, when told to cross the stage when the Duchess enters, yelled out “What’s my motivation” to the […]
by Anne R. Allen Last month, I wrote a post with tips about how (not) to write a novel opener. Some readers complained that I was “dictating” how people should write. That wasn’t my intention. I only talked about what agents and editors think has been overdone, and what doesn’t work well in an […]
by Anne R. Allen I love to start a novel. This is the fun part of writing for me — as it is for most writers I know. My muse has uploaded a shiny new story into my head and I’m all revved and ready to go, so I get those words down as […]
by Debbie Burke Let’s assume most of us who follow Anne’s and Ruth’s blog are not kidnappers, rapists, or murderers. Since we’re not, it can be difficult for us to imagine the mindset of characters who commit heinous crimes. So how can we write multidimensional, memorable villains who have more depth than the cartoonish […]
Go ahead, write that first draft with a feather. It’s all good. by Anne R. Allen Recently I’ve been looking at comment threads on old posts. Five years ago, people were leaving a lot more comments. But commenting on blogs has faded along with the popularity of blogging, which a lot of people see as […]
by Jenny Hansen Was your writing process a long and winding road for anyone else here? And by writing process, I mean “a reliable way you’ve been able to approach the page that allows you to finish books.” I struggled for decades to find my process. And I do mean struggled. I’d open a Word […]
by Ruth Harris The clip file. Remember those? Gone are the days of messy, torn-out newspaper and magazine articles jammed into over-flowing, disorganized files. Those ancient artifacts have been replaced now by their neat and spiffy digital counterparts. Writers are readers and what we read is (or should be) a rich mine of ideas. […]
by Anne R. Allen Whenever I teach a writing workshop, the hardest concept to get across is point of view. Almost every new writer wants to “head-hop”— that is, describe the thoughts of every character in the story — “hopping” from one head to another. This is why head-hopping is considered the mark of […]
Anne R Allen’s Blog With Ruth Harris