With a great deal of last-minute writing, I managed to win 2018’s National Novel Writing Month by writing over 50,000 words in November! Along the way, I learned (and relearned) some valuable lessons.
My goals for National Novel Writing Month
Pardon the title; I couldn’t help myself. Today I want to talk about point of view, or POV. The POV is the perspective from which your story is being told. Unless you’re writing your autobiography, your POV is not your … Read More
I’m working on a list of my top self-editing tips to send to people who sign up for my email list. So those of you who are on the list already will have that coming to you in the future! … Read More
I’ve alluded in previous posts to the idea that editors don’t expect authors to accept all of their suggestions, particularly in my posts on the editing process. I talked about the logistics of accepting or rejecting changes in Microsoft Word … Read More
Writing may be a solitary endeavor, but it is definitely not a solitary art. That probably doesn’t make sense. Let me explain. Writing is between you and the paper (or screen). Unless you’re writing with a co-author, you will be … Read More
I’ve been thinking a lot about satisfying endings lately. In the last few weeks, I read two recent YA books. Both post-apocalyptic, both science fiction, both basically about superheroes. Both by female authors, if that matters. Upon finishing The Interrogation of … Read More
Writing and editing advice are full of pithy phrases like Show Don’t Tell, Said Bookisms, or White Room Dialogue. Unfortunately, I have yet to come across a popular saying to describe the best piece of writing advice I’ve ever heard: … Read More
“Show, don’t tell” is a phrase that gets flung around a lot in writing and editing circles. I’ve seen people complain about it and even come to hate the phrase. Perhaps in part because it is used a lot. But … Read More
I’ve written a series of articles on the editing process for my publisher, Crystal Publishing, and they were kind enough to let me re-post the articles here on my blog as they come out quarterly. Last time, we talked about … Read More