Category: How To and Tips
From Opera Singer to Memoir Author – an Eleven Year Odyssey
“Really? You wrote a book?” I can see the incredulity when people learn what I’ve done, particularly from those who know me as a singer, music teacher, synagogue cantor, mother. Sometimes I also get the wistful, faraway look, and this: “I want to write a book someday.” I smile and murmur encouraging words. But I […]
Pacing, Line by Line: #Writing Advice by Chris Eboch
Pacing, Line by Line: #Writing Advice by Chris Eboch @Kris_Bock Fast-paced. Gripping. A page turner. “I couldn’t put it down.” Why do some books get these comments, while others are called slow or flat? Characters, plot, setting, and theme are all part of pace. Create compelling characters, so readers will care about them and want […]
Getting Started by Rachel Lynch
A writer’s existence is one of isolation, and in the past year, we’ve seen the whole of society experience this secret world of staying at home. It’s tough. It’s lonely, and sometimes it’s easier to throw in the towel and not write today, because you don’t have to. Unless there are looming deadlines, there’s always […]
WHY DID YOU WRITE THAT SCENE?
WHY DID YOU WRITE THAT SCENE? By Deborah K. Shepherd I’m on the phone with my sister-in-law, discussing the upcoming debut of my novel, So Happy Together. As is the case with most of my other relatives and friends, Jaye is excited to have “an author in the family” and has many questions, most of the […]
Defy Difficult Times by Setting Creative Goals
Our world has had a brutal year. We’ve all struggled to stay positive and productive while stuck inside our homes. We’ve sweated to Peloton workouts, snapped cute Instagram pics of our latest recipes, or binge-watched The Crown and Firefly Lane. Following the travails of Queen Elizabeth in her gilded palace or sympathizing with Tully Hart […]
Author Friendships
Back in November 2020, I received some unexpected and unwanted news about a project. While writers are accustomed to the ups and downs of our chosen profession, some knocks hit harder than others. This one knocked me flat. My first calls were to authors Lisa Barr and Camille Di Maio. After listening to their sage […]
Writing from Multiple Viewpoints
Writing from Multiple Viewpoints Natalie Lund My first novel, We Speak in Storms, rotates between four perspectives—three teenage outsiders who encounter an abandoned car in the wake of a tornado—and a fourth voice, the ghosts of a tornado that struck the town drive-in generations before. In my second novel, The Sky Above Us, I rotate […]
How The Piano Made Me A Better Writer
By Barbara Linn Probst The Sound Between the Notes is my second novel, but it’s also my first. I wrote it before I wrote Queen of the Owls, which was published a year ago, almost to the day … and rewrote it … and rewrote it … and rewrote it. The manuscript had even been […]
How Long Did It Take To Write?
By Maureen Boyle When my first book came out, at least one person would pose a simple question at promotional events: How long did it take to write? “Close to thirty years,” was my usual answer. I was only half joking. It took roughly a year to write “Shallow Graves: The Hunt for the New […]
From Novel to Screenplay: My Experience
Sheila Myers I had this idea that my Durant Family Saga trilogy would get optioned one day as a spin-off of the popular streaming series Hell on Wheels, and I’d make a million dollars. That hasn’t happened. Actually, I didn’t set out writing the Durant Family Saga with the idea it would be adapted to […]
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