We’ve all heard people touting the importance of that ever-present writing buzzword: platform. We’ve all heard that without a platform, you may as well give up writing, no matter how good you are. We’ve all heard about how writers need a blog, a Twitter account, a Facebook account, a Foursquare account, a Gowalla account, a […]
WLT Agents Conference – Day 2 Recap
On Saturday morning, I attended the Why We Still Love Fiction session, moderated by John Pipkin. Panelists: agents B.J. Robbins and Alex Glass. What Makes a Book Good? When asked what the panelists look for in good fiction, Alex said he wants a book that’s a “transporting reading experience.” While both agents mentioned that readers […]
WLT Agents Conference – Day 1 Recap
The Writers’ League of Texas Agents Conference started Friday, June 25. I attended a pre-conference pitch workshop with agent, Rebecca Oliver. Here’s a recap of the workshop for those in other agents’ workshops, or for people unable to attend: Rebecca began the workshop by sharing 10 things agents often hear that drives them crazy. None […]
Writing vs. Family
After almost 18 years together, my wife has come to accept that when she asks me how much longer I plan to write before lunch and I say, “15-20 minutes,” that what I really mean is, “Maybe 40-45 minutes.” Spending time with family is important, but so is having time to write. Throw in a […]
Monday Motivation: The Luckiest Thing
Saturday night, instead of writing, I plopped down on the couch and watched a couple movies with my wife. I had plenty of writing-related things I needed to do; in fact, the plan for the evening was writing for me, and movies for my wife. I knew she’d enjoy the movies even more with company, […]
Writing Through the Hunt
Many juggling writers spend their days at work wishing they were home writing. Sometimes the opportunity to have time to write comes along in the form of a layoff. I was laid off last December, and while landing my next job would be nice, it’s not something I’m stressing about (yet). Some people spend their […]
Decisions, Decisions
Wednesday, I talked about trusted readers. One of my trusted readers told me that while he liked the writing in a chapter in the book I’m polishing right now, he felt the chapter could be cut back or even removed. Another trusted reader said it was one of her favorite chapters. What’s a writer to […]
Monday Motivation: Antique Ideas
If the idea well seems a little dry, I know a store most likely in your town (big or small) you can visit and come out full of ideas! Each time you visit, it’s different; each time you browse and leave, there’s the potential for discovering something new. The store? Your local antique shop! * […]
Avoid the Buzz
It’s Monday — that means back to work for many juggling writers who will hear things like, “We need to hit the ground running this week, attack the low hanging fruit in order to maximize productivity, and utilize our group dynamic to create a paradigm shift that positions us as forerunners in the [insert industry […]
The Future of Books and Publishing
I recently watched Richard Nash’s talk about the future of books and publishing. (I found it here, on Booklife.) There are some great points made in the presentation, but there were two that really stuck out: The reminder that the long form narrative is a feature, not a bug. Most writers — whether they know […]
5 Ways to Be Prepared for Seasonal Articles
Spring is a great time to write articles. It’s no longer cold and wet, and it’s not so hot that you’d rather die than write. Really, though, every season is a great time to write articles. One of the problems with seasonal articles is planning ahead a few months and knowing what to pitch. If […]
Writing Priorities
I recently finished Haruki Murakami’s memoir about running and writing, What I Talk About When I Talk About Running. While it’s much more about running than writing — even if you don’t like running — it’s worth reading if you write. The parallels between distance running and writing a novel are obvious even if you […]
5 Ways to Find New Material
While most writers will die with a head full of unfinished ideas, there are times — especially when writing articles or other quicker content — when a writer can find himself at a loss for something to write about. If you find yourself searching for something to write about, I hope some of these five […]
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