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 […]
Show, Don’t Tell (A Different View)
One of the best writing rules is: “Show, don’t tell.” It’s easy when writing to tell the reader things, but it’s best to show things happen and let the reader imagine what they will. I never considered this rule applying to being a writer, though. Until today. * * * Through my AvantGuild membership with […]
5 Ways to Get Through a Rewrite
I’m working on my third novel. I’ve written it several times. This rewrite is the last rewrite. I’m not a big fan of rewriting, but it comes with what I’ve chosen to do. While I’m not as excited about rewriting as I am about initial writing, with each pass, the novel has become better. Here […]
5 Ways to Get Back to Writing
When most people do something for a long time, it’s inevitable that there will be lags in production. Writing is no different — especially for people juggling work, writing, and a life. If you find yourself frustrated after a lull in writing, don’t dwell on it — follow these five tips to get back to […]
Shut Up and Listen
Listen. With faint dry sound, Like steps of passing ghosts, The leaves, frost-crisp’d, break from the trees And fall. – “November Night,” by Adelaide Crapsey * * * I’ve met a lot of people who want to write but have a hard time listening. They don’t listen to advice They don’t listen to the way […]
Copy Cats
When I started writing, I broke away from the most common bit of writing advice: “Read as much as you can!” I’d read enough throughout my life to know how stories worked. When I started writing stories, I didn’t want too much of the writers I looked up to showing up in my work. So […]
Restrict Yourself
If I look over my left shoulder while sitting at my desk in the office, there are six longboxes of comic books and a small comic box to my immediate left. This doesn’t include all the graphic novels and collections. This also doesn’t include some of the comic books and collections on a shelf in […]
Do You Have What It Takes To Make It Writing?
Are you a productive writer, or somebody who just dabbles? Do you want to supplement your income with writing or make writing your career, but find it hard to make time to write? Do you have what it takes to make it writing? The hardest thing is realizing that you don’t, but there’s no shame […]
Listening to TV Talk
Whether you watch television or avoid it, writers can learn a lot about storytelling by listening to people talk about the TV shows they watch. Not a week has gone by at any job I’ve ever had where people didn’t talk about their favorite shows. The day job is a great place to learn what […]
Ten Things Writers Can Learn from Conan O’Brien
“Nobody in life gets exactly what they thought they were going to get. But if you work really hard and you’re kind, amazing things will happen.” – Conan O’Brien Last night was Conan O’Brien’s final episode of The Tonight Show. Before he was a late night TV host, Conan was a writer, working on Not […]
Queries that Worked: Personal Writing Magazine
The last query letter of the week is a pitch sent to Writer’s Digest. I’d read Writer’s Digest on and off since I was in my late teens, and decided to send a query for a sort of travel piece: * * * [Note: My contact information is flushed right on my query] Christopher Gronlund […]
Queries that Worked: My Biggest Writing Regret
Since I had written a couple travel pieces for the Dallas Morning News and finally knew the editor on a first-name basis, I decided to send a pitch letter. A pitch letter is a query letter, but it’s a little different. Instead of sending a detailed query about a place you plan to write about, […]