Rhyme or reason – what makes a good poem?
By J. Paul Dyson
Managing Editor, firstwriter.com
firstwriter.com – Friday May 26, 2006
If you ask people who write poetry what makes a good poem it’s amazing how few can actually think of an answer. For a lot of people, however, a lot of importance is placed on a poem rhyming. In this article I’ll be looking at why this can be a misleading and even dangerous focus of attention.
The basics of author branding
By Theresa Meyers
President, Blue Moon Communications
firstwriter.com – Friday May 26, 2006
I know you've heard PR people mention the word "brand" and thought, "what is she talking about?" Well, here's a quick and easy discussion of what an author brand is, how it works, why you need it and what to do with it.
Beginning your book's publicity plan
By Theresa Meyers
President, Blue Moon Communications
firstwriter.com – Saturday April 29, 2006
Whether your book is published by a large publisher, a small press, or is self-published, having a publicity plan for promoting your work is vital for its success. Before you begin developing your publicity plan, however, you need to be clear on your "message points".
How I found an agent and got published - An interview with author, Michael Thompkins
firstwriter.com – Saturday March 25, 2006
Michael Thompkins recently secured a publishing deal, thanks to an agent he found using firstwriter.com's database of literary agencies. We asked him about his writing, and how he found success.
Sharing the writing experience... online
By Roger N. Taber
Poet
firstwriter.com – Sunday January 15, 2006
I enjoyed Naomi Booth's article, "The Value Of Sharing the Writing Experience" (fwn 33, November 2005), and agree that sharing the writing experience is a valuable learning tool for all writers. However, as a poet with a growing reputation in the United Kingdom and overseas, I have to say that my own experience of writing groups and workshops has been very different.
How I found a literary agent - An interview with author J. B. Bergstad
firstwriter.com – Sunday January 15, 2006
J. B. Bergstad recently acquired an agent using firstwriter.com's database of literary agencies. We asked him about his writing, and how he found success.
Getting your work published – a few tips
By Cherie Rohn
New author and freelance writer
firstwriter.com – Monday December 19, 2005
In 1996 at a casino dealer's school in Albuquerque, New Mexico, my blackjack teacher, William Hanner, found himself sitting on a dynamite story. With only a third-grade education under his belt, he needed someone to write his true-life Damon Runyonesque tale. William's story hit me like a punch in the solar plexus. The scrawled words he'd set down in his dog-eared notebook so captivated me that I resolved to write his book no matter what it took.
Are editors evil?
By Bonnie Boots
Full-time writer and part-time designer
firstwriter.com – Monday December 19, 2005
When shopping for my Halloween costume, it's no drooling vampire or motley mummy for me, but the true embodiment of terror, a leering, lurching editor!
How I got a literary agent - An interview with author Richard E. Dixon
firstwriter.com – Monday December 19, 2005
Richard E. Dixon recently acquired an agent using firstwriter.com's database of literary agencies. We asked him about his writing, and how he found success.
The value of sharing the writing experience
By Dr Naomi Booth
Lecturer in Creative Writing and English Literature, York St John University
firstwriter.com – Saturday November 26, 2005
Many people who begin writing do so with a strong concept of what a writer should be like. Perhaps it’s a serious novelist typing through the night, driven to insomnia by the urgency of their story. Or maybe it’s a dedicated poet, practising their verse forms to perfection. Personally, mine was of a woman living alone somewhere by the sea, utterly devoted to her artistic pursuit to the exclusion of almost everything except a walk on the beach to refresh her inspiration. And possibly the occasional nap, if her muse would leave her alone for a few hours. After completing a degree in English literature many of my peers took themselves off to attempt to become "writers" in the way they imagined writers should be. One went to live in a house in the middle of rural France to write a novel, barely seeing another soul – other than the boulanger at the nearest village – for almost a year. Another spent six months in a beach hut in Zanzibar. What many people’s imagined writers seem to have in common is that they undertake writing alone. The act of writing is so often imagined by aspiring writers as an intensely solitary, almost punishing, pursuit.
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