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September 25, 2016 By Anne R. Allen 38 Comments

First Drafts: Are you a Plotter? Pantser? Somewhere In Between?

First Drafts: Are you a Plotter? Pantser? Somewhere In Between?

First drafts can be like mazes. The way through is never a straight line. by Ruth Harris A first draft is a maze you create that you have to find your way out of. Like a maze, the first draft doesn’t proceed in a straight line from start to finish, from beginning to end. In […]

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Filed Under: Writing Craft Tagged With: Decades, how to outline a novel, Plotters vs. Pantsers, reverse outlining, Ruth Harris, Scrivener, Style Sheets

November 29, 2015 By Ruth Harris 37 Comments

25 Gift Ideas For The Writer In Your Life

25 Gift Ideas For The Writer In Your Life

by Ruth Harris It is a truth universally acknowledged that no writer ever knows when or where his/her next great idea will strike. Because of that inconvenient fact, notebooks are essential. Although the back of a grocery receipt or a dry cleaner’s ticket will do in an emergency, a notebook will help create order out […]

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Filed Under: The Writing Life Tagged With: A Kiss at Kihali, digital notebooks, E-Books and Technology, Evernote, gifts for writers, Jutoh, Pens, Ruth Harris, Scrivener, Vellum, Writing Life, Writing software, writing tools

June 29, 2014 By Ruth Harris 37 Comments

TOOLS OF THE (WRITER’S) TRADE: Lots of them FREE + reviews, how-to videos and cheat sheets.

TOOLS OF THE (WRITER’S) TRADE: Lots of them FREE + reviews, how-to videos and cheat sheets.

by Ruth Harris Like plumbers and carpenters, architects and astronauts, cellists and golfers, writers need the right tools to help them get the job done. New tools appear constantly and many of them are FREE. Here is a round-up of current offerings. Word processors on steroids: MSWord is the industry standard, the app editors and […]

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Filed Under: E-Books and Technology for Writers, The Publishing Business, The Writing Life Tagged With: free office suites, free online resources for writers, Husband Training School, India Drummond, J. W. Manus, Ruth Harris, Scrivener, Tech-Savvy authors, technology for writers, Writers Digest

February 23, 2014 By Ruth Harris 44 Comments

From Pathetic to Professional: 8 Ways to Beat the First Draft Blues

From Pathetic to Professional:  8 Ways to Beat the  First Draft Blues

by Ruth Harris You’re happy, even delirious. You’ve finished your first draft! Then you read it. OMG, you think, did I write that?Yes, you did. 🙂 It stinks. It sucks. It’s so rancid it threatens to warp the time-space continuum. Think you’re alone? Here’s Hugh Howey in a blog post: “I suck at writing. Watching a rough […]

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Filed Under: The Publishing Business, The Writing Life, Writing Craft Tagged With: Character names, crutch words, how to write dialogue, Hugh Howey, know your genre, reverse outlining, Ruth Harris, Scrivener, Self-Editing, self-editing tips, sh***y first drafts, Zuri a love story

October 27, 2013 By Ruth Harris 29 Comments

The Big “O” for Writers—Organization: The Writer’s Toolkit #3

The Big “O” for Writers—Organization: The Writer’s Toolkit #3

by Ruth Harris   This is Ruth Harris’s third installment in her Writer’s Toolkit series. You can read Writer’s Toolkit #2 here and Writers Toolkit #1 here. Today she’s talking about tools for organizing your research and ideas: very timely for me this week. I’ve been working on and off for months on researching my […]

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Filed Under: E-Books and Technology for Writers, Writing Craft Tagged With: Evernote, free online resources for writers, Open Education Database, plot boards, Ruth Harris, Scrivener, Shelly Jump, The Organized Writer, Zuri a love story

July 28, 2013 By Ruth Harris 32 Comments

The Writer’s Toolkit: Must-Haves for Today’s Author, with Links to FREE Downloads

The Writer’s Toolkit: Must-Haves for Today’s Author, with Links to FREE Downloads

by Ruth Harris   As a follow up to Anne’s post, How To Get A Book Published for new or beginning writers, we’ve decided to post a list of the must-haves and the beyond-the-basics that belong in every writer’s toolbox. Even writers just starting out will probably already have at least some of these tools, but there […]

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Filed Under: E-Books and Technology for Writers, Self-Publishing Tagged With: Calibre, Elizabeth Joss, How to get a book published, India Drummond, Jutoh, Keith Blount, Nisus, Scrivener, Sigil, software for self-publishers, The Passive Voice

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writers digest 101 best websites for writers award

Anne R. AllenAnne R. Allen writes funny mysteries and how-to-books for writers. She also writes poetry and short stories on occasion. She’s a contributor to Writer’s Digest and the Novel and Short Story Writer’s Market.

Her bestselling Camilla Randall Mystery Series features perennially down-on-her-luck former socialite Camilla Randall—who is a magnet for murder, mayhem and Mr. Wrong, but always solves the mystery in her quirky, but oh-so-polite way.

Ruth Harris NYT best selling authorRuth is a million-copy New York Times bestselling author, Romantic Times award winner, former Big 5 editor, publisher, and news junkie.

Her emotional, entertaining women’s fiction and critically praised novels have sold millions of copies in hard cover, paperback and ebook editions, been translated into 19 languages, sold in 30 countries, and were prominent selections of leading book clubs including the Literary Guild and the Book Of The Month Club.

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