Writing about writing. Mostly.
by Ruth Harris The Tyranny Of The Time Stamp. We all live under the lash of the digital clock and the tyranny of the time stamp. It’s not just us, it’s everyone everywhere — Fast food and even faster fashion. Pro chess players have 2 minutes to make their moves. On each move 12 seconds […]
by Sue Coletta When I wrote my first novel, I had visions of landing a Big-Name Publisher who’d send a limo to wine ‘n dine me to celebrate this amazing accomplishment. Well, of course, that never happened. After writing four more novels, I landed a publisher. Two, actually. One wanted to sign me immediately. Kensington […]
by Anne R. Allen First let me say you can start a novel any way you want in order to get words on a blank page. Anything goes when you’re writing your first draft. I always say the first draft of a novel is for the writer and the final draft is for the […]
by Anne R. Allen As a reader, I’ve recently developed some pet peeves that never used to bother me. Maybe it’s age. These days I find it almost impossible to follow a novel with wild head-hopping, where every spear-carrier is a POV character. I’m also bored by stories where everybody is horrible and there’s nobody […]
by Ruth Harris We all know them. Each of us has encountered them. They are the pilot fish and blood suckers with literary stars in their eyes who wannabe — drumroll — A Writer! Wannabe writers come to you with gauzy fantasies about “inspiration” and visions of overnight fame and instant riches. And they have […]
by Anne R. Allen “Leave your critique group” was my editor’s advice after my first full-length novel, Food of Love, came out with his UK publishing house. He said he didn’t want a bunch of wannabes messing with my work. He had a point, and I understood what he meant. But the members of […]
by Melodie Campbell I’m a crime writer. Hell, I’ll put on my other hat (the one with the pointy top) and say it. I’ve also been a fantasy writer (same pen name, different genre.) So I know about suspension of disbelief. I’m willing to admit that as an audience, we might agree to ‘suspend belief’ […]
by Anne R. Allen With the self-publishing revolution, we were warned of a “tsunami of crap,” but the real problem is the tsunami of scammers. They seem to invent a new way to scam writers every day. Not just indies, but the traditionally published as well. Unfortunately, there are plenty of uninformed wannabe writers […]
by Ruth Harris I’d been planning to write my April post about outlines. Which authors do outlines? And which ones don’t? (I don’t and neither does Anne). I’d done a bit of research and made some notes when along came AI, the hot new kid in town. How could I ignore AI when everyday I […]
by Anne R. Allen Back in 2002, a New York Times survey showed 81% of Americans want to write a book. With the indie ebook revolution, the percentage has only expanded. Of course, most of that 81+% won’t ever write a word. There’s an old, unkind joke that says, “Most people think they have a […]
by Vasalysa Zaturets You can write an award-worthy story, but nobody will find it out if your book cover design doesn’t appeal to the target audience. Book cover design matters, and here’s why: It creates the first impression and proves that the story deserves the readers’ time and money. No advertising campaign is possible […]
by Becca Puglisi When it comes to storytelling elements, we’re all pretty familiar with symbolism. You basically take an object, word, color, phrase, etc., and apply it in a story to give it a deeper meaning. Tolkien’s one ring (evil) in Lord of the Rings The floating feather (destiny/fate) in Forrest Gump A Mockingjay (rebellion) in The Hunger […]
by Anne R. Allen A blog reader asked me recently to address the question of description in fiction. How much is too much? How much is enough? And why are contemporary novels so devoid of physical character description? Is this a new rule — or is it lazy writing? The answer to all of […]
Anne R Allen’s Blog With Ruth Harris