Novelists have a reputation of being reclusive.  Non-fiction writers have a reputation of being salesmen. There’s nothing wrong with being reclusive (although it may take longer to make it—if you make it), and there’s nothing wrong with working hard to sell books. The average book (fiction or non-fiction) doesn’t receive the publicity most authors would […]

Last year, I read a friend’s first novel. He critiqued some of my writing in the past, and it was nice returning the favor. He’s getting ready to submit the novel to an agent who reads his writing, and he asked me if I felt the novel was tight enough to submit. He asked me […]

Traveling for work (the day job), can cut into a writing schedule. Here are 10 tips to help you keep writing, or at least focus on writing-related things, while on the road. 1. Make a Writing Schedule Before You Leave Making a writing schedule before you leave for a business trip ensures that you’ll actually […]

This week — Monday through Friday — I’m talking about criticism. Monday: The Benefits of Criticism Tuesday: 5 Ways to Handle Criticism Wednesday: 5 Ways to Give Good Critiques Yesterday: Criticism — It’s Not an Editor’s Job Today: The Best Critique I Ever Received I had somebody in development at a major film studio interested […]

This week — Monday through Friday — I’m talking about criticism. Monday: The Benefits of Criticism Tuesday: 5 Ways to Handle Criticism Yesterday: 5 Ways to Give Good Critiques Today: Criticism — It’s Not an Editor’s Job Friday: The Best Critique I Ever Received A few of the things I’ve heard people say before submitting […]

This week — Monday through Friday — I’m talking about criticism. Monday: The Benefits of Criticism Tuesday: 5 Ways to Handle Criticism Today: 5 Ways to Give Good Critiques Thursday: Criticism — It’s Not an Editor’s Job Friday: The Best Critique I Ever Received 1. Take the Time. If you agree to read somebody’s work […]

This week — Monday through Friday — I’m talking about criticism. Yesterday: The Benefits of Criticism. Today: 5 Ways to Handle Criticism Wednesday: 5 Ways to Give Good Critiques Thursday: Criticism — It’s Not an Editor’s Job Friday: The Best Critique I Ever Received Normal people don’t like being told that something they put their […]

This week — Monday through Friday — I’m talking about criticism. Today: The Benefits of Criticism. Tuesday: 5 Ways to Handle Criticism Wednesday: 5 Ways to Give Good Critiques Thursday: Criticism — It’s Not an Editor’s Job Friday: The Best Critique I Ever Received The Benefits of Criticism Learning to deal with criticism is one […]

It’s been over a year since the day my wife and I were watching TV and it went out. It made a little clicking noise, and then it went black. Kaput! The TV had died. There was a moment of panic: “What will we do?! Civilization will crumble without TV; this is clearly the beginning […]

You sit down to write and the words don’t flow. You get frustrated and maybe check e-mail. You pace; you might even do some cleaning or watch TV. You tell yourself that you’ll get back to writing after your writer’s block goes away. Hours, days, months, even years later, it’s still there. Writer’s block is […]