Anne R. Allen's Blog... with Ruth Harris
Writing about writing. Mostly.
Elevator pitch: Can you sell your book in one quick phrase? by Ruth Harris Give ’em the old razzle dazzle Razzle dazzle ’em Give ’em an act with lots of flash in it And the reaction will be passionate What works on Broadway in the hit musical, Chicago, also works for selling a book because you […]
First sentences from classic and contemporary literature analyzed. by Ruth Harris No matter what genre you write, your first sentence is a seduction. It can be in the form of an invitation. A declaration. A tease. A promise. A jolt. A shock. You must be shameless and your first sentence must be irresistible. It must […]
Meet the faculty, tour the campus and calculate the tuition of the University of Hard Knocks by Ruth Harris Scammers and con artists have been around publishing since writers were using chisels to carve words into stone tablets. They loot, cheat and steal. They’re the faculty of Hard Knocks U. and they are out […]
by Ruth Harris What’s a Style Sheet? Look, guys, I don’t want to freak you out but, if you’re writing a book (or a short story or a novella), you need a style sheet. If you plan to self-pub, a style sheet will save your sanity while you’re writing—and after because a style sheet will […]
by Ruth Harris Editing is life. The blue tie? Or the yellow one? Peter or Paul? Or Mary? You’re an editor—whether or not you know it yet—because to edit is to choose. As a former editor, I’m obviously biased. As a writer, I’ve learned that for me (and for just about every writer I […]
by Ruth Harris Fiction or non-fiction? Thriller or sci-fi/fantasy? Romance or mystery? Young adult or self-help? Readers know what they like and what they want. Categories help them find what they’re looking for whether it’s the latest in steamy romance, a classic, time-tested bestseller or a gardener’s guide to growing petunias in Petaluma. Basically, […]
by Ruth Harris First of all, what the &%^# is metadata? AccordIng to Wikipedia, it’s “data about data.” But we’re writers and we’re talking about books, so, huh? Let me try again: when it comes to a book, metadata can be defined both by what it is and what it isn’t. Metadata’s everything in […]
by Ruth Harris Style was once described as “looking like yourself on purpose.”I don’t know who said it but the words and the idea behind them always made sense to me. Certainly Barbra Streisand, Audrey Hepburn and Tilda Swinton are examples. So are Salvador Dali, Andy Warhol and Woody Allen. They don’t look like anyone else and are instantly […]
by Ruth Harris Before there was The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo and Lisbeth Salander, there was Smilla Qaavigaaq Jaspersen, the heroine of a novel called Smilla’s Sense of Snow by Peter Hoeg. Smilla is part Inuit and lives in Copenhagen. According to the flap copy of the FSG edition, “she is thirty-seven, single, […]
