Anne R. Allen's Blog... with Ruth Harris
Writing about writing. Mostly.
by Anne R. Allen So you think you want to write a novel? You’re not alone. According to a New York Times study done a decade ago, 81% of Americans “think they have a book in them”. With the indie ebook revolution, I’m sure the percentage has grown. Of course, most of that 81% won’t ever write […]
by Ruth Harris No two ways about it, writers: you ARE going to suffer. How do I know? Because I’m a writer and all of these things—or variations of them—have happened to me. You will get one-star reviews. Your book will be rejected by the editor who “loves” you and your work. The hotshot […]
by Ruth Harris I’ve known and worked with a lot of professional writers over the years (decades). Some work first thing in the AM, others in the PM, some don’t get started until near midnight. Some write sober, some don’t. Some write on a computer, some on legal pads, and some write on tablets or […]
by Ruth Harris I’m an Amazon #1 and million-copy NYT bestselling author published by Random House, Simon & Schuster and St. Martin’s. I was also an editor for over 20 years. I worked at Macmillan, Dell and Bantam and for a small but thriving independent paperback house, now defunct—not because of me. 🙂 I was also […]
by Anne R. Allen “Be fearless… The world is filled with people who will be more than willing to give you self-defeating, negative advice. If you have a dream, the single most important question you must ask yourself is—how can you fulfill that dream? If your resources are very limited, that is not an excuse.” […]
by Anne R. Allen Ruth and I like to say we made all the writing and publishing mistakes so you don’t have to. I figure that personally I’ve collected nearly the full set of authorial faux pas since I embarked on a writing career. Here’s a list of some of the things I wish I […]
by Ruth Harris As Anne and I looked back at the blog for the past year, a portrait emerged highlighting the themes and subjects that interested you most. We were intrigued by these clues about what was on our readers’ minds in 2014 and thought you’d be interested, too. So here are the […]
by Eileen Goudge We have a visit from a literary superstar this week. New York Times bestselling author Eileen Goudge has written 32 novels, sold over a million copies, and been translated into 22 languages. I first heard about Ms. Goudge in the 1980s, when my friends and I all ran out to buy her phenomenal […]
by Ruth Harris You’re swamped and there are alligators in that swamp. They have sharp teeth and they bite. Their names are Stress, Clutter, Distraction, Disorganization, and Interruption. You’ve got a book to write, a cover to create, tweets to tweet, promos to set up, blurbs to polish, and pins to Pin. There’s metadata, […]
by Anne R. Allen We get lots of questions from new writers who have spent time in forums and online writers’ groups where they’ve been given advice by other newbies. Some of that advice is fine, but a whole lot is dead wrong. Unfortunately, the wrong stuff is usually delivered with the most certainty. […]
by Anne R. Allen I often run into new writers who want to be reassured they have talent. They sometimes ask me to read some fledgling work in hopes I’ll pronounce them “talented.”I always decline. (A wise author never goes there.) It’s not simply that I can’t fit one more thing into my already […]
by Ruth Harris Writing a novel based on the lives of real people is much more than simply recounting their story—even if it’s a whizz-bang, humdinger of a story. The challenge is turning real people and real events into fiction. Having no guidelines at the time I wrote Decades, I figured it out as I […]
by Anne R. Allen We’ve all met those people who think their sojourn on earth is meant to be a fault-finding mission. They can spot lint on your jacket at fifty paces, provide a litany of your imperfections whenever there’s a lull in the conversation, and be counted upon to tell you why your pumpkin […]
