Tips and Tricks for your Final Edit
Okay, so you have three weeks before you have to turn in your novel to the publisher (or upload it, if you’re self-publishing). It’s tough to read the entire manuscript…
As If!
No, we’re not talking about Valley Girl vernacular. Many writers get this wrong, including me, so I wanted to post it so we could all remember this simple rule. A…
A Dark Age for Artists
You may think the digital age has created a renaissance for art. In some ways, it has. Artists can share their work with so many more people. We now have…
Writing in Order
I recently read a short story that began: I looked out my apartment window through the Venetian blinds down at a street full of shadows. Do you see what’s wrong…
Creating Worlds
Here is a great video by author Kate Messner on building fictional worlds:
Book Review: Twitter for Writers
Everyone claims to be a Social Networking Guru. Seems like a perfect dream job, right? Sit around and play on Facebook and Twitter all day long. But most people really…
7 Mistakes Rookie Writers Make
I’m not saying I’m perfect. In fact, I’ve made most of these rookie mistakes myself. And I wish someone had laid it on the line before I first put my…
Fall in Love with Your Characters
It is said that an author has to “fall in love” a little with his or her characters. That certainly happened to me, and it’s why I extended my first…
How to Critique and Be Critiqued
You may have heard the adage, “Nobody lives in a vacuum.” Well, you can apply that to writing, too. If you write a book, congratulate yourself, and then upload it…
10 Tips for a Great Book Cover
I was about to write a snotty 59-character tweet: “I can tell by your book cover that you are self-published.” However I believe it’s better to be helpful than snotty….