Tag: featured
Show Don’t Tell … What The hell?
Show, don’t freaking tell, people! Perhaps the most overused term in fiction editing right now. And I bet you’re bored of hearing it; fed up with checking out pretty much every single writing blog ever and seeing this advice; constantly wondering what the heck this stupid phrase is, and why it’s sooooo stupendously important. Sure […]
Helpful Tips on Historical Research
Many writers set their work in the past, but only a very few have the luxury of a training in historical research. Yet online resources are making it easier than ever before to get to grips with the history that matters to your latest project. As a university historian, I spend a lot of time […]
The Power of Nancy Drew
Literature adds to reality; it does not simply describe it. It enriches the necessary competencies that daily life requires and provides; and in this respect, it irrigates the deserts that our lives have already become. —C S Lewis Growing up in Sherwood Park, a sleepy enclave in Yonkers where nothing exciting ever happened, I was […]
What Does A Ghostwriter Do?
When I tell people I’m a ghost writer I’m usually met with a bewildered smile, followed by the inevitable question: ‘What exactly does a ghostwriter do?’ Well, for starters, I can’t tell you what every ghostwriter does as we all tend to work differently and many of us have specialisms. For example, a colleague of […]
Celebrating Grandmothers
For many people, when they think about women’s books, their minds immediately turn to books for and about younger women – a good romance, the joys and problems of young children, the difficulties of separation or divorce, even women and their developing careers. All definitely women’s reading. But a large percentage of women are well […]
5 Reasons You Should Still Pursue a Traditional Book Contract
I can’t tell you how often I am asked if I am self-published, and even though it’s a fair question I admit I am a bit sensitive to the assumption that I couldn’t have gotten my book published the old-fashioned way. This is because I worked pretty hard to be traditionally published and while I […]
Writing When You Aren’t Writing
Any writer, and I assume many non-writers as well, have heard the sage advice, “Write every day.” At many times in my life, I have both agreed with the advice, and then, ultimately, admonished myself for not following it. Surely I couldn’t call myself a writer because I didn’t follow that advice. At my best, […]
Here’s Why: Short fiction by Anne Leigh Parrish
Here’s why. You slump, shrink, curl down in your seat, never stand up straight. As if an arrow might pick you off. Not an arrow, a bullet. Not a bullet, a blow. Not a blow, words. Not words, looks. Here’s why. You’re a freak. Four inches in one year? Your father’s colleague says he keeps […]
To Muse, or Not to Muse
What I’m about to say is blasphemy in much of the writing world. Maybe it’s my pragmatism, my science background, my lack of belief in guardian angels, karma and fate, but—here goes—I don’t believe in the muse. In fact, whenever other writers talk about their muse being on a vacation or sitting on their shoulder, […]
How To Get The Most Out Of Social Media
As a social media manager with clients in the book world, and a writer with a blog and online presence since 2011, I’ve found ways to get the most out of social media. I run social media courses for writers too and my neetsmarketing blog posts are inspired by questions from clients and course attendees. […]
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