National Novel Writing Month

Imagine that you are dying. If you had a terminal disease would you finish this book? Why not? The thing that annoys this 10-weeks-to-live self is the thing that is wrong with the book. So change it. Stop arguing with yourself. Change it. See? Easy. And no one had to die. — Anne … [Read more...] about Listening to your 10-weeks-to-live self

One more week to go, and if you're not sick and tired of the stupid thing at this point, I question whether you're human. My book? No, things are okay. I guess. I mean, I totally love my book and everything, but...it's not quite as clever as I thought. Yeah, like yesterday? I … [Read more...] about Writing a novel, a love story

It's Saturday, and I know you've been slacking. (Don't look at me in that tone of voice.) So I have not one, but six things for you to read! 6 Articles for a Stronger, Faster, Better First Draft includes some great stuff, but read one or two now and save the rest for later, … [Read more...] about Six tips for first drafts

Kathleen Temean has an excellent list of ways to fix a sagging middle in your novel. * Start “the ticking clock”—put a time constraint on solving a problem. * Bring up an issue from the main character’s past that adds to their current problems. … [Read more...] about Fixing a Sagging Middle

I tend to rush through my first drafts without remembering to stop and describe things. Reading Tom & Lorenzo's Mad Style posts on the costumes in Mad Men is making me think more about the way characters express themselves with their clothes. I don't think you need to be a … [Read more...] about Mad Style

Michael Moorcock, who is apparently even crazier than April Kihlstrom, has some fascinating advice for writing a novel in three days. The trick about dividing 60,000 words into four sections is more or less exactly what I'm doing with my NaNo novel, and so far it's working really … [Read more...] about Writing a novel in THREE days?

At the end of April Kihlstrom's Book in a Week article -- which proves there's always someone crazier than we are! -- there's a great list of things you can do when you have just a few minutes to write. … [Read more...] about Things to do in 10, 20, or 30-minute chunks

Lary Bloom, a writer and also my first editor says, "You can teach that writing is a religious experience. You can help the writer reconstruct what it was that moved them about their own experience, but you can't teach a person to be Hemingway." So maybe a good beginning is … [Read more...] about Choosing not to be Hemingway

Another week down. If you're finding it hard to stick with your novel, you're not alone. And staying married to a novel when you reach that stage is also work. It's so much easier to let yourself be seduced by the new idea that's walked in the door in its skin-tight leather pants … [Read more...] about The novel as marriage

I'd heard the phrase "scene and sequel" for years before I understood what it meant. Jim Butcher explained it in a way that makes sense to me. It reminds me not to obsess about getting conflict onto absolutely every page; sometimes the characters need to pause, think through what … [Read more...] about Scene and sequel