On Writing
YOUR NONFICTION IS SHOWING: What Nonfiction Writers Should Learn—Or Unlearn—to Write Good Fiction
If you write nonfiction by day—news stories, blog posts, law briefs, sales copy, collateral, tech writing, etc.—then making the transition from nonfiction to fiction holds some special challenges. As an agent, editor, and writing instructor, I teach a lot of aspiring...
PLOT THAT NOVEL! A Baker’s Dozen of Plotting Tricks & Tips, Courtesy of Atwood, Christie, Doctorow, Fitzgerald, Sorkin, and more
Start with characters. “Action is character.” ― F. Scott Fitzgerald Start with action. “Get your character in trouble in the first sentence and out of trouble in the last sentence.” ― Barthe DeClements Put your characters in motion. “All fiction is about people,...
OBEDIENCE TRAINING FOR WRITERS: What living with dogs teaches us about writing
Dogs and writing. Writing and dogs. Hard to say which comes first in my life, since we have three rescue dogs and the mystery series I write features former MP Mercy Carr and her retired bomb-sniffing Malinois Elvis. I’ve also written a memoir...
FINISH THAT FIRST DRAFT! A Round-Up of Tips & Tricks, Courtesy of Hemingway, Lamott, King, and More….
Write badly. “Get it all down. Let it pour out of you and onto the page. Write an incredibly shitty, self-indulgent, whiny, mewling first draft.” — Anne Lamott Write quickly. “I believe the first draft of a book — even a long one — should take no more than three...
Rules of Engagement for Writers
My father died last week. The Colonel was the one family and friends invariably went to for advice, and he was always more than happy to hand out his own brand of wisdom, battle-tested in combat and inspired by his personal holy trinity of Jesus, Patton, and Napoleon...
When All Else Fails… PLOT JUMPSTARTERS
“When in doubt, have a man come through a door with a gun in his hand.” --Raymond Chandler Whether you outline first or simply plunge in by the seat of your pants, there may come a time when you realize your story engine is failing and you need a jumpstart, fast,...
On Writing A Book Series
Keeping a series fresh and fun is a challenge—and it does not get any easier. As I sit down to write Book Four in my Mercy Carr series, I find myself rethinking everything I’ve learned about writing a series so far—often the hard way—and reminding myself of key take-aways:
10 Writing Lessons We Learned from 2020
Hindsight is 2020. I stole that great line from my son Greg Bergman, Editor-in-Chief for capitalwatch.com. This year was a nightmare, but we did learn a lot—the hard way—about our industry, ourselves, and each other.
A Writer’s Gratitude Journal
This year, finding the silver lining in what often seems like an endless sky crowded with darkening clouds may be difficult, but as writers we are blessed in many ways. Just being a writer is in and of itself a blessing. Holding on to that understanding can be tough...
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