Q: How do you push yourself to improve as a writer? Do you have any tips for us writers who are just starting out?*
A: Read. Everything. Seriously, reading a ton of fiction is a fiction writer’s number one job, … Read more
To help YOU go write today, I’ll share my number 1, go-to method of getting my style muscles in condition.
There is something to be said for having a shock-proof shit detector that can be turned “off” for the purposes … Read more
For me a first draft is like that impossibly slow climb to the top of a roller coaster… a roller coaster from hell that keeps getting higher and higher so that you spend WEEKS thinking, I’m almost there… I’m just … Read more
Anybody who’s remotely paying attention should know that I love Scrivener. I’m near evangelical about its virtues for everything from novel-writing to blog-touring to academic blah organizing. (Yes, my academic blahs need to be organized.)
But there’s something that … Read more
I’m in the middle of living something new: writing hungry.
I’ve always seen the idea of the starving artist as an unnecessary cliché, but I’m as close as I will likely ever be to living it. (I certainly hope this … Read more
What can you do in those infamous fifteen minutes of writing each day (the daily chunk of time I had for writing most of What Can’t Wait and The Knife and the Butterfly)? And what if you’re not in the … Read more
A while ago I wrote about how Scrivener was the perfect tool for drafting a novel. I need to revise that statement. Scrivener is the best electronic tool. Why the qualification? Because ordinary paper always, always calls me back.
Scrivener … Read more
Here’s the full Q: How do you work writing into your life? I often find myself without any time to write, or if I do have the time, I am not in the “zone”. I am tired, or worn, and so … Read more
Something that I’m working on in novel #3 is keeping various lines in the plot going at the same time while also creating meaningful connections between these lines. In music, this is called counterpoint. (Disclaimer, y’all: I’m no musician. In fact, … Read more
Last week, I shared one of my favorite tricks for beating writing block with figment.com, the amazing (as in, “Holy cow, where were you when I was sixteen?!”) online writing community for teens and YA lovers. (Seriously, everybody… if … Read more
