Yes, the revision process is tedious and painful and frustrating. But isn’t it also liberating?
Read moreStorytellers: Tony Romano
Storyteller Tony Romano is the author of the novels Where My Body Ends and the World Begins (Allium Press) and When the World Was Young (HarperCollins), along with the short story collection If You Eat, You Never Die (HarperCollins).
Read moreIt's All Fun and Games
The trick to getting over your fear of the blank page? Stop taking yourself so seriously.
Read moreLiterary Luminaries: Call for Submissions
In an effort to invite and introduce new voices to my blog, I'm kicking off a new series featuring interviews with authors and book-publishing professionals.
Read moreExposition: How to Avoid the Info Dump
You’ve spent hours building the perfect world for your characters to move through. It’s got every imaginative element you’ve ever wanted, and it’s got the rules and the structure it needs to remain believable in all its fantasy and magic. But now you’re up against another challenge: How do you introduce the audience to your world without overwhelming them with exposition?
Read moreWhat Happened?
It’s the question you should ask yourself about every scene in your novel, and as with so many things in writing (and life), it’s not quite as simple as it sounds.
Read moreWriter's Block: Over, Around, and Through
Writer’s block is among the most frustrating obstacles writers face. Even more frustrating, however, is the advice we can find online to push through it. It’s all about taking walks, finding a new environment, getting some exercise, or calling old friends. Basically, distracting yourself and hoping lightning will strike when you least expect it.
Read moreScheduling Downtime is the Most Important Thing a Writer Can Do
Any time I'm helping a client race to meet an ominous deadline, the piece of the writing process I fight hardest to protect is downtime.
Read moreOutlining Your Novel
While many writers love the structure of an outline to help them push through their novels in an organized, step-by-step manner, others get claustrophobic at the mere mention of the word.
Read moreBuilding Worlds from Scratch
the thing about magical worlds is, no matter how far removed they are from reality, they have laws, too. There’s status, governance, basic infrastructure. There are rules — both political and metaphysical — governing the use of magic.
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