Thoughts on writing and craft.
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Getting Unstuck: Tips for Overcoming Writer’s Block
Some writers seem to be endlessly prolific. They can draft a book in a few weeks, edit it, and move on the next project. They never seem to get stuck. I am not one of these people. I love editing, whether my own writing or someone else’s. Drafting, on the other hand, is hard. I…
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Tips for Providing Helpful Feedback and Critiques
We’ve all received unhelpful feedback on our work. Maybe it was too vague to be actionable. Maybe it was so blunt it was cruel. Maybe it was just wrong. Maybe the critiquer didn’t understand what we were trying to do, or they just didn’t like it for purely subjective reasons. Sorting through this feedback can…
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How to Write Compelling First Pages
It is a truth universally acknowledged that the first pages of your book must be astoundingly good. Literary agents often only request 5-10 pages, and if your first page or two aren’t gripping enough, they might not even read beyond them. Unfair? Perhaps not. After all, when readers are browsing books at the bookstore or…
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Evoking Emotion
One of the most powerful aspects of fiction is that when it’s done well, we feel what the characters are feeling. When the characters are afraid, we’re afraid. They make us giddy with new love or angry at injustice. When we stop reading, we feel like we’ve had a cathartic emotional experience. We’ve lived an…
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Rediscovering the Joy of Writing
I’ve got a confession to make: I started drafting my WIP a year ago, and I’m not even halfway through. In the past year, I’ve written a whopping 30,000 words. I should have this thing drafted and edited by now. I’m a slow writer… but not that slow. I can make lots of excuses for…
