Friday, March 6, 2015

Navigating a Big Writer's Conference--What's Best to Do, What Do You Bring, How to Make the Most of Your Time and Money

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This spring, two major writing conferences happen.  One is the annual AWP (Associated Writing Programs) conference in Minneapolis on Apri...

Dialogue Skills to Develop Real or Imagined Characters--And Help Sell Your Book to a Publisher!

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Imagine a publisher sitting in front your manuscript.  By some wild luck, and your hard work, it has arrived in his or her hands.  Now i...
Friday, February 27, 2015

Structuring for Nonfiction Books--How Do You Do It, So Your Reader Can Follow It?

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We were taught in school a three-part structuring tool:  Tell them what you're going to tell them, tell them, then tell them what...
Friday, February 20, 2015

Structuring Phase--The Second Stage of Building a Book

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This two-part post discusses the two phases of book building.  If you missed part 1, just scroll down. How do you know you are in th...
Friday, February 13, 2015

Gathering Phase and Structuring Phase--Two Stages of Building a Book

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Writers who have published books know that there are two phases in the book-writing journey. They cycle back and forth during the time y...
Friday, February 6, 2015

How Do You Start Your Chapters for the Most Punch? Some Simple--and Surprising--Structure Tips for All Genres

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Michelle from New Zealand watched my video  on story structure and sent some questions about how to begin a story.   Although Michelle ...
Friday, January 30, 2015

Writing in "Islands"--How I Wrote My First Memoir in Forty-Five Days

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A novel in a month?  A memoir in six?  I never believed those promises, tooted by many writing books.  Not until I came across the conce...
Friday, January 23, 2015

Growing Out of Your Rootbound Pot--Why Bravery on Demand Can Help Your Writing

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Simone de Beauvoir once wrote, "Every time I start on a new book, I am a beginner again. I doubt myself, I grow discouraged...
Friday, January 16, 2015

Enough Already! Is It Really Time to Start Revising or Are You Just Bored with Your Book?

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Poems, articles, columns, and short stories are all creative commitments, to be sure, but even if they linger unfinished for a while, they ...
Friday, January 2, 2015

Building on What's Working: A New Approach to Setting Writing Goals for the New Year

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Some writers think writing a book is just this:  sit down, write, and hope for the best.  Goals are a waste of time, because in a purely ...