• Revised and expanded – Karin Kallmaker’s advice on how to prepare for your first public reading of your book: Pick the right passage, practice, prepare for questions and close with a call to action.
Getting Published – Panel in Castro Valley on Saturday
Panel for new(er) writers on Getting Published, this Saturday January 7 at 11 a.m. at the Castro Valley Public Library. Local writers share their journeys to publication.
Why I Love the Editing Phase
Karin Kallmaker’s Writer Brain and Editor Brain duke it out for supremacy, then a real editor shows up.
Why Change? 3 Things I Learned from Melissa Brayden Plus a Sneak Peek
I learned more than three things from Melissa Brayden at #gcls2015 – now to put them to work! Plus, here’s the current opening of Captain of Industry I read at the Con.
How “Strong Female Characters” Still End Up Weak And Powerless – Reblog from « terribleminds: chuck wendig
Comments on and links to Chuck Wendig (Terrible Minds) blog on real agency for female characters, and Ada Hoffman’s excellent Twitter series about agency in plot, not character.
Two Weeks for Self-Doubt
How can something that happens with every book always come as a surprise? Even in the throes of self-doubt I don’t recognize it.
All Endings Have Beginnings
A problem with ending a story starts at the beginning.
Asked and Answered: Song Lyrics
Wouldn’t you rather be learning the native cuisine for your novel’s setting or the intricacies of your character’s career than learning about the fair use doctrine and public domain?
Stood up, Walked Over and Grabbed – Ways to Avoid Dull Words
Dull empty words – “She stood up, walked across the room and grabbed…” They add so little to any story that readers probably skip them, so why bother writing them?
Linear or Non-Linear?
As a Pisces with six planets in Pisces, I’m lucky not to be in orbit. My muse is the Pisces, but the writer’s legs touch the ground, even though sometimes she’s on tiptoes.
Dialogue and Sex and Curious Readers
It’s a funny situation because nobody asks if you play the violin, can construct a 7-layer wedding cake, run marathons, create fine art, practice patent law, sing jazz, or solve quadratic equations for fun.
Which Comes First, Plot or Characters?
Theme, character, plot for me are like making a ball of jello.
Is Setting as Important as Character or Plot?
Is it a main character, a secondary character or an incidental one – once the author decides that, then the work to be done is clear.
Should You? Using Song Lyrics in Fiction
It’s a natural inclination to refer to, quote from and honor words of others that move us. Frequently, then, the question comes up: can I quote song lyrics in my story? To me the legal issues are secondary to the artistic concerns.
Creating a Character of “Age”
One of the first questions a romance writer has to answer is “Why is this character single?” The older the character, the more complicated the answer to that question can be.