Tag: Good Writing Advice
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Good Writing Advice: Not everything you write has to become a novel
Said another way: Don’t take yourself too seriously. On Monday I went to see Lauren Oliver. After her reading, Ms. Oliver took questions and talked a bit about her writing process. She mentioned at one point that she is ALWAYS working on something, and that if she finished one book on Tuesday she would start…
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Good Writing Advice: Start with the logline.
What is a logline? Well, if you’re an author, you may have had that classic moment where you tell someone you’re writing a book, they ask what it’s about, and then you ACTUALLY HAVE TO TELL THEM. A logline is that crisp, convenient, one-sentence-ish premise that falls effortlessly from your lips in answer, smoothly summing…
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Good Writing Advice: The 45 Minute Session
Yesterday I tried something different. I wrote in blocks of 45 minutes at a time. Let me back up a minute. I’m currently at work on a MG project. Ideas for this book had been steeping for months before I ever put pen to paper (fingers to keyboard); as a MG novel I intended to…
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Good Writing Advice: Show Don’t Tell = Action
I borrow today’s writing wisdom from author A.B. Westrick and her recent contribution to the “7 Things I’ve Learned So Far” column of Writer’s Digest. “Show Don’t Tell = Action. Early-on, I thought “show don’t tell” meant showing every little detail in a character’s life. It doesn’t. It means that when you’re writing a scene,…
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Good Writing Advice: Test Voice with Visceral Reaction
Voice: it’s one of the more difficult terms to define when it comes to writing craft. Not only is it the resulting synthesis of many different elements (language, punctuation, pacing, flow, character commentary, etc. etc. ad infinitum); it varies hugely writer by writer, and often even piece by piece. For this segment of Good Writing…
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Good Writing Advice: Submit Your Best
Today’s writing wisdom deals with the submissions process and comes from literary agent Marisa Corvisiero of the eponymous Corvisiero Literary Agency. In a 2011 interview with Chiseled in Rock, when asked what essential advice she would give to authors seeking representation, Corvisiero said this: “Do your research and always put your best foot forward. Learn…
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Good Writing Advice: 15 min/day
Today’s gem of writing advice comes from an interview with literary agent Laurie McLean of Agent Savant. The interview is given by Matt Garland of Winning Edits. Garland asks what advice McLean would give to writers who are “stalled” (stressing, stuck, procrastinating, etc.) in their author’s journey. McLean responds, “Write every day, even if it’s…
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Good Writing Advice: The Writing to Reading Ratio
Today’s pearl of wisdom for writers at any stage comes from Kate Southwood, author of Falling To Earth, in a piece she contributed to Writer’s Digest. It’s a simple rule, and one you’ve probably heard before: Read good writing. “Another writer once told me that if you have four hours to write, you should spend…
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Good Writing Advice: A New Segment
Hey gang. So as I’ve been discovering some great resources on agent-finding, query-writing, synopses, general craft, etc., I have been keeping a file. That file is a running Word document composed exclusively of advice cut and pasted from various literary agents, authors, book doctors, etc. in interviews, agency websites, and magazines, and is presently twenty…
Julie Israel 