Anne R. Allen's Blog... with Ruth Harris
Writing about writing. Mostly.
by Anne R. Allen Recently I’ve seen sad posts by a number of new writers who are having trouble marketing a self-published debut novel, or are discouraged by numerous rejections. Some are furious at the world for not loving their stuff. In a lot of their work, I see the same problem. It’s usually right […]
Stephen King’s 10% Rule–does your 2nd draft follow it? by Ruth Harris Because: what you leave out is as important as what you put in. I’m not saying the delete key is magic, but sometimes it can feel that way. Skillful use of the delete button will help you show instead of tell. Will add […]
Radical revision may be what that broken WIP needs. by Ruth Harris The lights are red. All signs are Stop Signs. That stack of pages you thought was going to be a book? You know, with characters, a setting, maybe even a plot? Somehow, it’s been lost in a desert of false starts, dead ends […]
Beware plot and pot holes in your fiction! by Ruth Harris We all come face to face with them, those pesky glitches, oopsies, OMGs and WTFs that ruin a story, turn a reader off, guarantee a slew of one-star reviews—and kill sales. Beta readers will often point them out. Editors are professional fixers, always on […]
9 Ways Editors Can Make You Look Good…and 7 Ways They Can Make You Miserable by Ruth Harris As a former editor, I’m biased but, as a writer, I’ve learned that for me (and for just about every writer I know), editing is the most productive and transformative part of writing a book. Whether […]
by Anne R. Allen Happy New Year! Congratulations if you won NaNoWriMo in November. And even if you didn’t. In fact, you deserve congrats if you didn’t join in the madness at all, and you’ve been writing slowly and steadily all year. No matter how long it took you, pat yourself on the back […]
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 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 […]
In these days of the “look inside” feature on retail sites like Amazon, the opener of your book is more important than ever. Whether you’re going the query route or self-publishing, your first page is essential to the success of your book…and may be your most crucial sales tool. Those first 250 words can […]
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 […]
