According to Publishers Weekly, the top 50 million books sold in the U.S. in 2009 were all written by the same 26 people. How does that happen? Think about it. Readers know their names. You can test this one. Are you famous? Absolutely no facility with the written word, no… Read more“4 Reasons Best Sellers Get to Suck & You Don’t”
Author: Victoria
6 Ways to Shoot Yourself in the Foot
We’ve all done it. We write what feels like the most heart-wrenching, glorious, meaningful story ever put into words, and we polish it until it’s as beautiful as a rare seashell. Then we hand it around, to our writing workshop or critique circle or peer group or dedicated readers, and… Read more“6 Ways to Shoot Yourself in the Foot”
5th Annual Top 10 Blogs for Writers Contest
All right, guys. It looks like the 5th Annual Top 10 Blogs for Writers Contest is being held for this year. Folks are over there nominating their favorite blogs written specifically for the in-depth edification and entertainment, the support and encouragement, the comedy and companionship, the sheer on-going benefit of… Read more“5th Annual Top 10 Blogs for Writers Contest”
4 Post-Its to Stick Up Over Your Writing Desk
When you sit down to write today, take a moment to scribble these 4 things on 4 post-its. Then stick ’em up over your writing desk. “What if. . .” Write down the “what if?” PREMISE of your novel. Then every time you look up, pondering where to go after… Read more“4 Post-Its to Stick Up Over Your Writing Desk”
3 Reasons to Quit Writing, 3 Reasons Not to Quit Writing
3 REASONS TO QUIT It’s hard as hell. Boy, nobody warned you, did they? You were going to have fun. You had this incredible idea about a wonderful fictional world peopled by amazing characters, with internal and external conflict like the Fall of the Roman Empire. You had words and… Read more“3 Reasons to Quit Writing, 3 Reasons <em>Not</em> to Quit Writing”
6 Golden Rules of NaNoWriMo
It’s that time of year again! Gird your loins, and pick up your pens. You’re about to embark on the ride of your lives. You’re not supposed to take it too seriously If you only learn one thing about NaNoWriMo, ever from anyone, learn this: it’s meant to be fun…. Read more“6 Golden Rules of NaNoWriMo”
5 Ways to Make Your Novel Inescapable
Never doubt that thoughtful committed citizens can change the world; indeed it is the only thing that ever has.—Margaret Mead We’ve backed up through your novel ala E.L. Doctorow’s taillights in the past few weeks, starting with the key to the best possible CLIMAX, followed by the key to the… Read more“5 Ways to Make Your Novel Inescapable”
8 Lessons To Learn from Screwing Up Your Manuscript
How many times have you screwed up your writing? Once? Twice? A hundred times? A thousand times? Counting all the times you’re screwing up this very instant and the times you intend to screw up in the future. . .infinity? EVERYONE SCREWS UP. This should be printed in big, bold… Read more“8 Lessons To Learn from Screwing Up Your Manuscript”
5 Ways to Make Your Novel Helplessly Addictive
Books break the shackles of time.—Carl Sagan Last week I did a post on 5 Ways to Make Your Novel Unforgettable. That was basically all about the CLIMAX, which many of you astutely figured out. But before your reader gets to the part that’s unforgettable, you have to make them… Read more“5 Ways to Make Your Novel Helplessly Addictive”
4 Big Reasons to be Grateful for Independent Editors
You’re living and writing right now, today, in the midst of huge change in the publishing industry. It’s so huge that by the time you’re ten years older you’ll have navigated the tectonic shift from Pangea to a modern continent. One of the major developments of that change is the… Read more“4 Big Reasons to be Grateful for Independent Editors”