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June 28, 2015 By Ruth Harris 34 Comments

11 Tips For The Care And Feeding Of Your Muse: A Writer’s Guide

11 Tips For The Care And Feeding Of Your Muse: A Writer’s Guide

by Ruth Harris   The muse (also referred to as intuition, instinct, the subconscious, a superpower, the Spidey sense) is generally a friendly and cooperative breed. By nature, the muse tends to be bright eyed, curious and energetic. However, ignored or poorly-treated the muse can be become depressed and mopey and will not function effectively. […]

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Filed Under: The Writing Life, Writing Craft Tagged With: creativity, Evernote, Husbands and Lovers, psychology for writers, Ruth Harris, Susan Kaye Quinn, Twyla Tharp, Writer Self-Care, Writers block, Writing tips

June 21, 2015 By Anne R. Allen 75 Comments

6 Bad Reasons to Write a Novel…and 6 Good Ones

6 Bad Reasons to Write a Novel…and 6 Good Ones

by Anne R. Allen   So you think you want to write a novel? You’re not alone. According to a New York Times study done a decade ago, 81% of Americans “think they have a book in them”. With the indie ebook revolution, I’m sure the percentage has grown. Of course, most of that 81% won’t ever write […]

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Filed Under: The Publishing Business, The Writing Life, Writing Craft Tagged With: Achieving your writing goals, Bob Mayer, creativity, Damon Lindelhof, first novels, Michael Ventura, The Talent of the Room, Writing novels, Writing tips

May 24, 2015 By Anne R. Allen 88 Comments

10 Tips for Choosing the Right Book Title

10 Tips for Choosing the Right Book Title

by Anne R. Allen   I’m not going to pretend that picking a title for your book is easy. In fact, it gets tougher all the time. We have to consider a lot more than how grabby a title looks on a bookstore shelf these days. In choosing a title now, we have to think […]

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Filed Under: E-Books and Technology for Writers, Social Media and Marketing For Writers, Writing Craft Tagged With: Anne R. Allen, Bad Book Titles, Book title analyser, Book titles, Frances Caballo, Joanna Penn, So Much for Buckingham, The Best Revenge, Title makeovers, Writing tips

May 10, 2015 By Dr. John Yeoman 42 Comments

How NOT To Win A Writing Contest: 7 Deadly Story Sins

How NOT To Win A Writing Contest: 7 Deadly Story Sins

by Dr. John Yeoman   Have you ever entered a short story contest and failed to win? And wondered why? You may have made one or more of these seven ‘killer’ mistakes. How do I know? Since 2009, I’ve judged more than 6000 entries in the Writers’ Village short story award. And I’ve given every […]

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Filed Under: Writing Craft Tagged With: how to win writing contests, John Yeoman, short fiction, short stories, Writers' Village Short Story Awards, writing contests, Writing tips

March 8, 2015 By Jodie Renner 68 Comments

How to Write a Prize-Worthy Short Story: A Step-by-Step Guide

How to Write a Prize-Worthy Short Story: A Step-by-Step Guide

by Editor Jodie Renner   Writing short stories is a great way to test the waters of fiction without making a huge commitment, or to experiment with different genres, characters, settings, and voices. Even if you’ve published a novel or two, it’s a good idea to try to release a few high-quality, well-edited short stories […]

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Filed Under: Writing Craft Tagged With: Captivate Your Readers, how to win writing contests, how to write, Jodie Renner, short fiction, Why Short Stories are Hot, Writing tips

August 17, 2014 By Anne R. Allen 79 Comments

5 Protagonists Readers Hate: Why Writers Shouldn’t Identify too Closely with a Main Character

5 Protagonists Readers Hate: Why Writers Shouldn’t Identify too Closely with a Main Character

by Anne R. Allen You can learn all you want about writing powerful prose, well-planned story arcs, lyrical descriptions—or any other aspect of fiction—but if you don’t have a protagonist your readers care about, none of the rest matters.I don’t think it’s terribly relevant to talk about character “likability” in the sense of “niceness.” The […]

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Filed Under: The Writing Life, Writing Craft Tagged With: Food of Love, how to fictionalize a memoir, How to write a bestselling novel, how to write a novel based on real life, Likable Protagonists, Mary Sues, Writing tips

June 22, 2014 By Anne R. Allen 71 Comments

How to Plan a Novel without Actually Outlining: 3 Awesome Tips from Nathan Bransford

How to Plan a Novel without Actually Outlining: 3 Awesome Tips from Nathan Bransford

I’m so jazzed  we’re hosting Nathan Bransford this week!  Mr. Bransford—who is a children’s author, former literary agent, and blogging legend—gave this blog its start when he offered me a guest spot on his blog in 2010. I wrote a piece on why you should keep writing, no matter what, called You May Be a Bestseller on Trafalmadore.  […]

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Filed Under: Writing Craft Tagged With: How to Be a Writer in the E-Age, how to write a novel, Nathan Bransford, Novel structure, Outlining, pantser vs. planner, Writing tips

October 28, 2012 By Ruth Harris 35 Comments

8 Sure-Fire Ways to Improve Your Book—Tips from a New York Times Bestselling Author

8 Sure-Fire Ways to Improve Your Book—Tips from a New York Times Bestselling Author

  This week we have some serious nuts-and-bolts advice from our own Ruth Harris. Ruth learned this stuff from both sides of the editorial desk, as an editor at Bantam & Dell, publisher at Kensington–and as a New York Times bestselling author of women’s fiction and thrillers. Since I’m in the middle of editing my […]

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Filed Under: Writing Craft Tagged With: book editing, Compose magazine, Hollywood scandal, How to edit your own work, Kill Your Darlings, Love and Money, Ruth Harris, Self-Editing, Writing tips

April 18, 2010 By Anne R. Allen 18 Comments

Does Your WIP Have Too Much Dialogue?

Does Your WIP Have Too Much Dialogue?

  by Anne R. Allen   I’ve been looking over some of my much-rejected early novels recently and discovered they have something in common with a lot of other unpublished fiction: way too much dialogue. They’re too LOUD. The characters need to shut up already and get on with the story. And yet, in all the […]

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Filed Under: Writing Craft Tagged With: advice for writers, how to write dialogue, reader-feeder dialogue, Writing tips

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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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