I recently finished reading, My Name is Lucy Barton, by Elizabeth Stout. This Pulitzer-Prize-winning author created a compelling story in this new novel. I plan to review it next week. Meantime, I wanted to examine how writers write from their imagination. Terry Gross on the nationally acclaimed radio program, Fresh Air, asked Stout if the […]
How Your Communication Affects Your Writing–#AuthorToolboxBlogHop
As my first post for the Author’s Toolbox Blog Hop, I wanted to talk about how communication affects our writing. As a communication’s coach, I find this topic quite interesting. Take a look at the other blogger’s posts here. You’ll learn all kinds of tips and tools for writers. How well do you communicate? Some […]
When Your Hero becomes Your Villain #Inkripples
The hero/villain dichotomy has become very blurred in recent years #inkripples Click To Tweet With the rise of Walter White in Breaking Bad, heroes become villains and vice versa. Do you find yourself reading a book and rooting for the bad guy? If so, the writer has done a nice job of reversing roles. The […]
Submit, Wait, Re-submit, Wait. The story of a writer’s life
You submit your work to a publisher, agent, editor, reader and you wait. #writingtips Click To Tweet The time lag between submission and response can be as much as six months. During that lag, what do you do (besides worry)? As for me, the last time I went through this, I was in the middle […]
Tips to Avoid Cliches–That Dreaded Word
When an editor writes: “This is cliche,” I cringe #writingtips Click To Tweet I understand what that means, and I work hard to avoid those ‘trite’ expressions that haunt every writer. But, I do know one thing. People talk in cliches. Have you ever heard anyone say something like, “I’m colder than my mom’s house […]
How do Writers Choose Character Names? Some Tips
One of the biggest problems in writing is developing names for the various characters #amwriting Click To Tweet When we write a book, a fully grown person pops up. They have a history and a life that we know nothing about. Who are these people? What is their history and what in the world do […]
What’s a Great Book to Take to the Pool?
With summer right here and the pool beaconing me, I wonder which book I want to take to distract me from the screaming kids and the hot sun. Even though I love reading nonfiction, I prefer something lighter in the summer. A great mystery or a white knuckle thriller. You might even find me with […]
Writers Tips for Showing Feelings
The word, “feel,” connotes telling. When you say Jake felt anger, you are telling. How can a writer show feelings without telling the reader how the person felt #writingtips Click To Tweet This becomes a major conundrum in the world of creative writing. We want our characters to have feelings, strong emotions, but how do […]
A Time to Work and a Time to Rest
The creative mind cannot work in a pressure cooker #writingtips Click To Tweet If we want people to come up with new ideas or create exciting stories for books and films, we must allow them time to rest and sleep as well as work. Perhaps we’ve always known this truth. Often people ask writers about […]
Why is Amazon so Heavy-Handed with Reviewers?
I know that @Amazon is very strict about book reviews Click To Tweet They won’t let family or friends review your books. That makes no sense to me but there you go. According to the thinking at Amazon (do people think at Amazon?), family and friends might write an overly favorable review. My thinking is […]
