Noodling 101: How to Generate Good Ideas… Fast!

Noodling 101: How to Generate Good Ideas… Fast!

“There’s always the next book.” Louise DeSalvo That’s what Louise DeSalvo says. DeSalvo is the author of The Art of Slow Writing, which I purchased as a kind of hair shirt and read as a kind of guilty pleasure. As a mystery writer expected to turn out a book a year,...
Story Questions: The Secret to Narrative Thrust

Story Questions: The Secret to Narrative Thrust

One of the most common reasons agents and editors pass on stories—and readers stop reading them—is a lack of narrative thrust. Narrative thrust is the engine that propels your story forward, beat by beat, scene by scene, chapter by chapter, from the very first word to...
The Writer’s Guide to the Holidays

The Writer’s Guide to the Holidays

Readers love the holidays, and they love books set during the holidays. That’s why these special occasions play a significant role in the writing, promoting, and marketing of books. Writers often forget that setting a book during a particular holiday season can be a...
Ten Great Gifts for Writers

Ten Great Gifts for Writers

Tis the season of gratitude and generosity. Be grateful to your friends and family, especially those who give you great writer gifts. But be generous to those who don’t; you can’t expect your partner or your BFF or even your mother to know what the writer in you...
How To Read Like a Writer

How To Read Like a Writer

This time of year, happiness is a blazing fire, a glass of wine, and a good book. Here in New England, where winters are long and cold and buried in snow, ‘tis the season for reading. My TBR pile is high—and so are my ambitions. Because while reading is one of my...

Pin It on Pinterest