Anne R. Allen's Blog... with Ruth Harris
Writing about writing. Mostly.
by Ruth Harris I’ve been published for decades. Random House and Simon & Schuster paid me well to publish my books in hard cover and paperback. My books have sold millions of copies, been translated into 19 languages, and appeared on Amazon and NYTimes bestseller lists. Shouldn’t I know by now wtf I’m doing? Shouldn’t […]
Novellas, novelettes, and serial fiction are no longer “old fashioned.” by Mara Purl Do you know what George Orwell’s Animal Farm, Edith Wharton’s Ethan Frome, Ernest Hemingway’s The Old Man and the Sea, and H.G. Wells’ The War of the Worlds have in common? They’re not novels. They’re novellas. Novellas went out of style in […]
Not every first novel is a practice novel. by Anne R. Allen It’s a sad truth that most first novels never see print. Editors call them “practice novels.” They make up a good portion of agents’ slush piles, and if you self-publish, they’re unlikely to sell. On her Bad Girl Comedy blog this week, author […]
First sentences from classic and contemporary literature analyzed. by Ruth Harris No matter what genre you write, your first sentence is a seduction. It can be in the form of an invitation. A declaration. A tease. A promise. A jolt. A shock. You must be shameless and your first sentence must be irresistible. It must […]
Alas, publishing is about the bottom line, not warm fuzzies and gold stars. by Anne R. Allen The biggest obstacle many new writers face in making the leap from beginning writer to professional author is accepting that publishing is a business. Newbie writers have often taken creative writing courses or read books that urge them […]
Saying goodbye to that WIP can be bittersweet.. by Anne R. Allen I’ve recently had discussions with several writers who have been pondering saying goodbye to that WIP they’ve been laboring at for years. All of them wanted to move on for different reasons. All of their reasons were valid. Unfortunately, the writers felt it […]
A visit from your muse: the gift you give yourself. by Ruth Harris “What The Subconscious is to every other man, in its creative aspect becomes, for writers, The Muse.” ~ Ray Bradbury What Ray Bradbury called the muse, Stephen King called the “guys in the basement.” Others call it the sixth sense, the Spidey […]
Follow word count guidelines to keep from snoozifying your reader. by Anne R. Allen A constant complaint I hear from agents, editors, writing teachers, and reviewers is that they see too many manuscripts with inappropriate word counts. If you’re getting a lot of form rejections or simply silence from agents, reviewers and editors, this may […]
Peggy Cass as “Agnes Gooch,” a memorable character name by Anne R. Allen “Agnes Gooch,” “Mr. McCawber,” “Albus Dumbledore”: memorable names of memorable characters. How can writers come up with character names that readers will never forget? In his painfully funny 2006 book, Famous Writing School, a Novel, Stephen Carter’s writing teacher-protagonist advises his students to […]
Beware plot and pot holes in your fiction! by Ruth Harris We all come face to face with them, those pesky glitches, oopsies, OMGs and WTFs that ruin a story, turn a reader off, guarantee a slew of one-star reviews—and kill sales. Beta readers will often point them out. Editors are professional fixers, always on […]
A creative writing teacher has to deal with a lot. By Melodie Campbell It all started in 1992. I’d won a couple of crime fiction awards, and the local college came calling. Did I want to come on faculty and teach in the writing program? Hell, yes! (Pass the scotch.) Over the years, I continued […]
…and How to Solve 9 Common Dialogue Problems. by Anne R. Allen I’ve been looking over some of my much-rejected early work and discovered my old stories have way too much dialogue. This is something I see in a lot of newbie fiction. I remember a guy who came into the bookstore where I […]
Secrets are the engine that keep a story moving forward. by Ruth Harris Shhh! Secrets. Everyone has them. Every book must have at least one because secrets are the jet-powered engine that propels fiction forward. Ever notice how many blurbs in the daily BookBub email include the word secret? Secrets provide motivation, plot, character, even a setting (a […]
Anne R Allen’s Blog With Ruth Harris