Beyond Good Writing--Two Agents Talk about What Else Matters If You Want to Get Published

Many of my students and private clients are good writers.  They've taken classes to hone their writing, learned to revise, are adept at choosing that perfect word or phrase to make the reader melt.  

But there's a lot more to writing--and publishing--a book than just expert wordsmithing.  In my classes, I teach the other side of books, the structure, because I've found it harder to learn and practice.  It's not taught that much in schools or even MFA programs.  Good writing is, but structure is not. But you know my concerns about (obsession with?) structure if you've followed this blog for any amount of time or taken one of my workshops.  It just matters so much, if you want to publish in today's market.


Jane Friedman, one of my writing heros and former publisher of Writer's Digest magazine, puts out an excellent e-newsletter.  Last week, she included a link to an article where two agents talk about what matters, beyond the good writing, if you want to publish today.  Read it for this week's writing exercise.  

Here's the link.  Go to www.janefriedman.com if the link doesn't work or if you want to browse Jane's newsletters.  Well worth the time.

This blog will be on holiday next week while I am writing by the ocean.