“Oh, so that’s a rough draft. I’ve always wondered.” This was the remark a student made in response to my comment about his research paper: “When you make your points in the order you found them, that’s a rough draft.” I am a seasoned writer. Another way to put it: if I’m not seasoned by […]
The world is awash in trends. We even have symbols to announce them. All industries have trends, including publishing. If you want to make a living as a writer, you need to know the marketplace. But if you’re writing your stories only toward trends, your backlist may suffer. Title image: Trending hashtags, Twitter tags, buzz […]
We all know what to deck the hall with. That’s right, boughs of holly. Sure, we all know it because the song has an upbeat melody and lots of fun fa-la-las. But it’s also memorable because it sets the Yuletide scene so deftly. Along with all the fresh and fragrant greenery, we hear about “gay […]
We’re all at home these days. And, yet, very likely feeling uprooted. From our jobs. From our friends and family. With normal life not quite in sight. Everyone is suffering in their own way. In my case, my writing chops withered. So, lately I’ve been digging into some pretty dry soil and nourishing it. All […]
Before getting to the tips, what on earth is anaerobic writing? First, it’s a phrase I made up just now. Second, it plays into my long-held notion that writing is an aerobic activity. See: My Huffington Post article For me, writing is akin to breathing. And there’s such a thing as being in good writing […]
You have a great story in mind. Really great. You sit down to write, all fired up … and then you wobble and go off the rails. With some effort you find the storyline only to get sidetracked again. Eventually you’re holding a bunch of loose threads. Here are some tips for tightening your plot […]
You have a great story in mind. Really great. You sit down to write, all fired up … and then you wobble and go off the rails. With some effort you find the storyline only to get sidetracked again. Eventually you’re holding a bunch of loose threads. Here are some writing tips to tighten your […]
I’m in the midst of writing Money for Nothing, the second book in my Buy Me Love Shapeshifter Series. The current scene I’m writing is giving me trouble. I need to step back and ask the question: What elements do good scenes have? So, it’s back to basics. Good Scenes Develop Plot Every scene has […]
You get a sense of what I’m going to say about writing during quarantine by looking at my title. When it comes to offering tips, I usually come up with a list of 3, 5, 7 or 10. Here I am offering one. That’s right. One measly writing tip for you. In these past weeks […]
This blog on writing vision was originally posted on September 28, 2015. In this period of pandemic I’m updating previously posted blogs if they are more relevant now than when I first posted them. The person I speak about, below, is Danny Meyer, a New York City restaurateur. He blew into the national news yesterday, […]