On Writing
Top Ten Writer’s Quotes to Live By
By Paula Munier As a reader and a writer and an agent, I am obsessed with not only with stories, but with storytellers. I read as many writer’s memoirs and autobiographies and biographies as I can find, I seek out interviews and podcasts and classes with writers, I go...
DEALBREAKERS: 5 Reasons Your Book Won’t Sell
DEALBREAKERS: 5 Reasons Your Book Won't SellFrom Career Authors — write. sell. repeat. 1. Your Protagonist Is not Smart and/or Brave and/or Relatable Is not unique in some way Doesn't drive the action from beginning to end(Not all heroes wear capes.) 2. Your...
REVISION: A Round-Up of Rewriting Tips
Finish. Revise. Persist. That’s what it takes to get published. But too many writers skip the rigorous revision process so critical to making your book go from good to great. Because revision is where the magic happens. Here’s some insider tips from bestselling...
How to Keep on Writing When the World is on Fire
By Paula Munier Okay, so the world is on fire. But that’s no excuse not to get our writing done. Or is it? Admittedly, the chaos happening out there in the world can distract us even when we’re tucked inside our writing room away from it all. Because we are living in...
Variations on a Theme: A Round-Up of Advice, from Sam Abell to William Butler Yeats
Forget English class. Theme is simple: Your theme is what your story is really about. In this Career Authors Round-Up, you'll discover what these terrific writers past and present have to say about theme. “In my first class at the University of Kentucky, my American...
Let Go or Get Dragged: A Mantra for Writers
by Paula Munier I have a magnet on my refrigerator that says, “Let go or get dragged.” It’s a reminder, as the Buddhists say, that holding on to possessions, people, even our thoughts and emotions is not good for us. There’s a wonderful scene in the TV series Life...
CHARACTER 101: A round-up of advice from bestselling authors on creating compelling characters, from Isabel Allende to August Wilson
When it comes to writing fiction, it’s all about character. Even in genre fiction, where plot may be seen to rule, it’s still all about character. As my editor, Pete Wolverton of Minotaur/ St. Martin’s Press, and the recipient of the prestigious Ellery Queen Award,...
You’ve Got the Chops, Now Write a Break-Out Book
As an agent and author, I spend a lot of time at conferences meeting writers looking to break into traditional publishing. And so many of these writers are THIS close to getting published. Meaning that they’ve been working hard on their craft, putting in the ten...
Fun with Story Structure: 10 Frameworks for the Novel
Structure is the underpinning of the novel, the pillars that support the narrative from beginning to end. Without a strong structure, your story can fall in on itself, like a Jenga puzzle in freefall. But that doesn’t mean structure has to be boring. Here are 10...
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