Anne R. Allen's Blog... with Ruth Harris
Writing about writing. Mostly.
by Anne R. Allen Mickey Spillane famously said “They read to get to the end. If it’s a letdown, they won’t buy anymore. The first page sells that book. The last page sells your next book.” I can see the creative writing students rolling their eyes. Mickey Spillane wasn’t exactly a great prose stylist. But […]
You can plan your novel even if you’re a pantser by Beth Barany Even as an experienced novelist, I still need a roadmap to follow when I’m starting a new novel. When I was a beginner, I really needed a roadmap that worked for me. Which is why I created these tools, especially designed for […]
by Melodie Campbell This month, I will have the privilege of interviewing both Ian Rankin and Linwood Barclay, at separate conferences and festivals. Both are world-renowned crime writers (and wonderfully witty men besides.) As I read through their latest books in order to prepare for being the hostess with the mostess (naughty thoughts aside – […]
by Ruth Harris Why is cooking — often? usually? sometimes? — more appealing than writing? *Even if you’re only a halfway decent cook, just about everyone will eat and enjoy what you made — and tell you so. * If you’re only a halfway decent writer, no one will enjoy what you wrote — or will […]
by Anne R. Allen Secondary characters are often glossed over in popular fiction. They’re in the story to further the plot, and can sometimes devolve into broad stereotypes or cardboard cut-outs while the protagonist (and maybe love interest) dominate the story. You can avoid the problem if you think of the secondary characters as […]
by Ruth Harris How often should you water a cactus? What is the name of the president who came before Abraham Lincoln? How do you blow up a bridge? What’s so special about the Sydney opera house? What does SPECTRE stand for? In the course of writing a novel, a writer — one who will […]
The adversity cycle vs. the Hero’s Journey by Stefan Edmunds A Fresh Definition of Story I imagine that in the earliest days of storytelling, people took real-life adventures, like raiding a village, surviving a storm, or abducting a woman of another clan, and told the tale at the campfire. Over time, storytellers gilded real-life adventures […]
by Ruth Harris Here are Some Pro Tips And Tricks To Absolutely, Positively Raise Your Anemic R-Score. Are you embarrassed by your pathetic R-quotient? Do other writers sneer at your R-score? Has your pile of rejection letters stalled out? Have your R-levels been diagnosed as too low? Has too much time gone by since your […]
By Kathy Steinemann Tomorrow is Valentine’s Day! Do you want to spice up the card you bought for your sweetheart? Maybe you’re writing a romance, and you need a few alternatives for love. People might say they love doughnuts, kittens, or coffee, but maybe they savor doughnuts, fawn over kittens, and crave coffee. Or perhaps […]
by Ruth Harris The nip slip and wardrobe malfunction make good fodder for the gossip sites, but, for writers, wardrobes — clothes and accessories — are a powerful tool in the arsenal. 1. Clothes and accessories show, not tell. Clothing and accessories instantly convey status, setting and mood. They have their own language and vocabulary and […]
Writer’s block has hit a lot of us during the pandemic By William L. Hahn Other than a single flash piece before Christmas, I haven’t written a solitary word on my epic fantasy world in more than a year. And holy crow, do I need to. Not only do I have a complete, well-envisioned novel […]
by Anne R. Allen I’ve blogged before with tips on choosing a book title, but recently I’ve become aware of a few other things we need to consider in the age of online bookselling. I ruminated about titles over the holidays, when I had a chance to read some titles from my TBR pile, and […]
By Anne R. Allen Ruth and I write this blog to give back to the writing community we’ve lived and worked in for many decades. We offer warnings about scams, plus tips and helpful suggestions for writing fiction and creative nonfiction that contemporary readers will want to buy. We say “we made the mistakes so […]
