NaNoWriMo has come and gone, and there are now millions more written words in the world than there were a month ago. Aspiring writers all over America—all over the planet—are sitting in front of their masterpieces wondering what they have to to do to them before they can start querying… Read more“Being in the right place at the right time”
Category: Discussion
Talking about a small, good thing
Today we’re linking to the New Yorker publication of the original version of Raymond Carver’s famous short story, “What We Talk About When We Talk About Love,” as edited by the famous editor Gordon Lish. If you don’t know who Gordon Lish was, you will learn. Take note, all ye… Read more“Talking about a small, good thing”
Developmental Editing
Do you ever wonder exactly what a full Developmental Editing letter looks like? How the conversation starts when you hire an editor to work over your plot with you—to make sure it tells the story you want to tell, in the most gripping possible terms, to keep a reader completely… Read more“Developmental Editing”
Launching head-first into NaNoWriMo
“Knock me down, pick me up, knock me down again. Break my heart, steal my gold, slander my good name.” —Gordon Lightfoot, “Sixteen Miles” You’re alone in a room with your keyboard. It’s 11:55 on Halloween. You’re about to start NaNoWriMo. Your fingers are poised. Your heart is racing. You’ve… Read more“Launching head-first into NaNoWriMo”
Talking brass tacks with the editor
Is it possible to look forward to rejection letters? Because that means I’d be finished writing my WIP. And also finished writing query letters. And yet right now I feel light years away from either. So, despite probably what is a general consensus, I will someday look forward to rejection… Read more“Talking brass tacks with the editor”
Evaluating an editor
Hey, guys! Jane Friedman of Writer’s Digest has a post this morning containing links to a whole plethora of stuff on her blog about the world of writing and publishing. Why am I telling you this? Well, for one thing, Jane and I had a chat on Twitter the other… Read more“Evaluating an editor”
Meeting the editor
What’s today—the first Monday of the month? Let’s call this Meet the Editor Monday. So, I woke up LOATHING my own fiction this morning. It’s a loathe-your-own-fiction kind of morning at our house today. Do you ever get that feeling? Here’s something you maybe don’t know about being a professional… Read more“Meeting the editor”
Reading a freaking script
Josh Olson raised the roof this week with his blisteringly straight-forward rant in the New York Village Voice, I Will Not Read Your Fucking Script. I’ve never seen one of his movies, I’ve never read any of his scripts, I’d never heard of him before I read his article, and… Read more“Reading a freaking script”
Mentioning copyright
Where’d they go? The eagle-eyed among you may have noticed my blog posts have disappeared—all but the latest and those containing your own work. How many of you are familiar with a thing called copyright? If you want to be writers, you’d better be. Wow, I had about six golden… Read more“Mentioning copyright”