As you’re mapping out new scenes or reviewing the ones you’ve already written, see if they pass this test.
Read moreLost Your Train of Thought? Five Ways to Get Your Novel Back on Track
You race through the first forty or fifty or sixty pages like it’s nothing, and you just know you’ll have a finished first draft in no time. Then suddenly, you stop. This story and the characters that were so clear at first have vanished, the words have dried up, and you have no idea where to go next.
Read moreMy Editorial Philosophy
I have high standards, and I’ll shoot you straight, but my goal is to guide and inspire each author I work with to meet those standards and create a manuscript she can be proud of.
Read moreWriters' Rituals
For writers, there’s a fine line between ritual that helps us out and ritual upon which we become dependent.
Read moreRevision Is Not Optional (And That Should Be a Relief)
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.
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