Dear younger writer self, can I give you some advice?
irishtimes.com – Thursday January 25, 2018
Joan Brady on taking the scenic route to write her novel, missing her deadline to go from journalist to author by a mere 20 years.
I often reward writing a thousand words with a latte and eight jammie dodgers
irishtimes.com – Wednesday January 24, 2018
Louise Beech: Writing without a deal, agent or audience means you can be the most honest you’ll probably ever be
Adversity is a great place for inspiration. It lends a sort of desperation, a need to create and make something good when the world seems against us. It’s not a great place to permanently live, but without experiencing it for at least a good period of time we don’t grow, survive, or scream to be heard. During adversity, we write hungry. I mean this in a spiritual way, not literally, though it can help to be physically hungry too. I often reward writing a thousand words with a latte and eight Jammie Dodgers.
How to Keep Writing When Every Day Is a Blow to the Gut
huffingtonpost.com – Monday January 15, 2018
Most writers I know have put themselves on a news diet, but even if you’ve done that it’s impossible to escape the bad news altogether—nor do most of us want to be completely checked out. The s**tstorm we’re contending with in our country—#MeToo, our erratic weather, nuclear threats, a Twitter presidency—is leaving most of us feeling anxious at best. Few writers I know are able to wield their anxiety into well-crafted scenes. Most are distracted (for good reason!) and yet the new year is supposed to be about new beginnings, right?
Five Rules for Writers
nationalreview.com – Saturday January 13, 2018
As a professional writer, I’m always trying to improve. I’ve studied the work of the top writers. I’ve debated great opening sentences with colleagues. I’ve thought long and hard about things like serial commas, concluding that they are good and necessary (don’t @ me).
These days, I’m not only a professional writer, but also a teacher of writing: I run the journalism program at Hillsdale College. The best way to learn how to write is to write, because experience offers the soundest instruction. Yet my students and I also consult sources such as The Elements of Style, by William Strunk Jr. and E. B. White, whose best advice has become a famous dictum: “Omit needless words.”
Bloodhound Books on surviving and thriving as an indie publisher
telegraph.co.uk – Monday January 8, 2018
Indie crime fiction house, Bloodhound Books, is killing it right
now – and to such a degree that its doors have had to be temporarily shut for submissions.
"Our schedule is full up; we're set to release seven or eight books a month until June," says Betsy Reavley, who co-founded the company with her husband, Fred Freeman.
2018 Book Publishing Predictions - Are Indie Authors Losing their Independence?
huffingtonpost.com – Tuesday January 2, 2018
Welcome to my annual publishing predictions post where I prognosticate about the future and share my views on the state of the indie nation.
Each year around this time I polish off my imaginary crystal ball and ask it what the heck is going to happen next.
Why should we subsidise writers who have lost the plot?
theguardian.com – Monday January 1, 2018
Following the announcement from Arts Council England that sales of literary fiction are plummeting, it is suggested that arts subsidies be deployed to help writers survive. I have another idea. They should write better books.
I barely read literary fiction any more. When I do it is almost always American writers: Michael Chabon, Jonathan Franzen, Anne Tyler, Donna Tartt. Not only are the aforementioned brilliant writers, they are accomplished storytellers. But here, the form of storytelling and literary novel writing has become largely divorced.
Interesting Video on “The Basics of Writing a Screenplay”
tvovermind.com – Sunday December 31, 2017
This interesting video on the basics of writing a screenplay is something that a lot of aspiring screenwriters should think about watching if they’re serious about getting their story noticed and made into a film by someone that is looking for an engaging story. Having written a few myself, but obviously never having sold one yet, this kind of a lot of review but it’s still something I think that anyone with an interest would be wise to look at. One thing you have to remember about a screenplay however is that it’s not a book. You’re not writing prose, and as a result you don’t need to be that descriptive. Instead of writing to create pages and expanded content you’re writing to create something concrete that can be filmed and idealized by those that read the script.
Bloodhound Books - A Crime Fiction Publisher That’s Killing It
huffingtonpost.com – Sunday December 31, 2017
Since I launched into the publishing industry in 2007, I have seen it morph from traditional publishers holding the reins to self-published authors trying to make a name for themselves to the newer model of independent (also known as hybrid) publishers finding a balance and niche between it all.
Today, it’s the independent publishers that are making their mark on the industry by offering a safe-haven for authors to see their books published in a professional manner without the worries of landing an agent and a deal with a big publishing house. With the right independent publishing company, marketing, and social media approach, many authors are doing quite well with this route.
How to Write a Great Book Fast—From the Author of 47
huffingtonpost.com – Sunday December 31, 2017
Is writing a book one of your goals for the new year? If so, these 10 tips can make the difference between dickering and done.
Now that I’m 47 full-length books down the road (all sold to major publishing houses), plus more than a dozen other compilations, I can attest that these principles work. A couple of my books were written in two days. The longest (95,000 words) took me 28 days to write. Several have been book club selections and won literary awards. Writing fast does NOT mean cutting corners on quality.
Here’s hoping these same tips will be helpful to you as you write your first or next book!
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