I was talking with a friend the other day who was telling me they planned to take part in the November novel in a month fun. He said he felt prepared to write his first novel because he had written so many short stories; he was ready to graduate to novel writing. This sparked a [...]
Poetry is as alive as it ever was although its modern form seems a world away from its traditional arrangement of close rhyme and tightly rhythmic verse. With the general tendency towards shortened English (eg textspeak) in common use and with the perceived (although not by all of us) reduced importance in grammar, it is [...]
Recently on our writers forum a debate has taken place about when is a writer a novice versus when they can consider themselves a “professional” or in my terms, “a master of writing.”
To me, anyone can write. Heck, we learn to put pencil to paper in kindergarten but in our terms, does this make us [...]
Develop a thick skin now
Grammar
Point of view: Make sure you have a point of view for every scene.
You must be clear of whose head you are in as soon as possible.
Check you are in the right tense: Check the tense you have chosen is consistent throughout.
Over use of the following: Was – were – had [...]
Week 4 – Getting Your Work Published
I bet after three weeks of finding the perfect topic, structuring your story and writing your heart out, you’re ready to see your name in print! You look at your perfect story and can already picture the acceptance letter from some editor praising you for your masterpiece…. Not so [...]
Week 3 – Writing Your Masterpiece
During week 1 you found inspiration for your story and week 2 you organized your thoughts into a structured plan now week 3 focuses on writing the story. Your goal by the end of this week should be a well written first draft that you feel you have adequately reviewed [...]
Week 2 – Structuring Your Story
Ok so now you have your idea floating around in your head and you are dying to tell, but wait a little more! First things first! Organize and structure your story!
Everything in our mind makes sense to us, I mean we though it up how could it not make sense? [...]
Week 1 – Getting Your Idea
Each week for the next 4 I will post a series on how a new writer can get published. It took me months of trying to get published but looking back if I just did it right I could have been published within the first month. Here is what I learned [...]
Before I was asked to step in as publisher for the romance imprint of a small press, I spent a considerable amount of time reviewing submissions for publication. Today, of course, I do even more of that, but now there is more at stake.
As a reader, I provided honest opinions on potential works for our [...]
After spending hours tweaking and editing your writing you want to see your writing presented to readers. The satisfaction following publication of your hard work is payment on its own but finding a place that will take it in is a struggle.
These days you would think it would be easier to find a place to [...]
