Anne R. Allen's Blog... with Ruth Harris

Writing about writing. Mostly.

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Eight Ways Not to Start a Novel

Eight Ways Not to Start a Novel

  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 […]

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Writing that First Chapter: 10 Do’s and Don’ts for Starting Your Novel

Writing that First Chapter: 10 Do’s and Don’ts for Starting Your Novel

by Anne R. Allen I’ve had questions from several writers recently about how to approach a first chapter. New writers hear so many rules about what they must do in the first line, first paragraph, and first chapter that they can feel paralyzed, afraid to write a word. Let’s hope that NaNoWriMo is helping some […]

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The One Thing That Will Kill Book Sales Dead—And 10 Ways to Avoid it.

The One Thing That Will Kill Book Sales Dead—And 10 Ways to Avoid it.

Don’t kill book sales dead with a less than enticing “look inside” sample. by Anne R. Allen I never have as much time to read as I think I will, and my trusty old Kindle is pretty loaded up. So I’m a picky book-buyer. Unfortunately, there are a lot of readers like me out here, […]

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