book writing | book writing
Mar.11.2013
The title above contains some of the most valuable words in the English language, and in the world of creative writing, their probably the most effective ones an author will ever use.
To an unknown writer like myself, I was virtually lost while attempting to craft my first manuscript. I had a story...
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Oct.18.2012
These days, hiring a ghostwriter to write your book is hardly a matter of shame. In fact, it’s becoming a status symbol of sorts, a measure of having made it sufficiently to have some able-bodied writer do the job for you. One is either too busy to write one’s own book, or too smart, or simply too...
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Apr.24.2012
One of the strangest times in a writer’s life is when the ARCs go out into the world to seek early praise and attention. The “ARC” is book world shorthand for “Advance Reading Copy,” which translates to: an unedited, unfinished version of a book. Which translates to: one of my worst...
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Feb.16.2012
One of the most terrifying moments in a writer’s life is the moment her editor says, “We have a mock-up of the cover for your new book, which we’ll be sending you soon.”
The reason this is so terrifying is that you never know what they’re going to send you. It could be magnificent. Or it could...
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Feb.13.2012
Now that I’ve handed in the copy edits, here are the primary things I’m working on:
~ Creating, shooting, appearing in (!), and producing a book trailer for Becoming Clementine. (More on this later…)
~ Updating my website for Becoming Clementine, building web pages for the book as well as...
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Jan.19.2012
To be honest, if I’m going for pure historical accuracy, most days I’m working like twelve dogs pulling the Iditarod, racing against the clock to get everything done. But, even so, there are those other days– the darker ones– when the ideas don’t seem to come no matter how long you sit at your...
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Jan.16.2012
A well meaning interviewer once said to me, “It must be wonderful to have endless, uninterrupted hours to just write and write.”
I replied, “It must be. I hope to experience it sometime.”
Today is one of those days that drives a writer (or any person) crazy. Every time I start on a task,...
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Dec.21.2011
Last Monday, I received the last of my editor’s notes on Velva Jean #3 (in which she finds herself spying in World War II), and, at my editor’s request, I have addressed her notes, big and small (cutting 26 pages in the process), and delivered the edited manuscript back to her by this morning...
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Dec.16.2011
It's 11:34 pm, and I'm just finishing up work for the day. Today was spent editing, editing, editing Velva Jean #3. And now I will fall into bed, read precisely two pages of my current Shirley Jackson novel, and wake up at 5:00 am so that Louis and I can head out to the desert to take a...
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Nov.02.2011
The WNFIN challenge is broken into three part: writing, publishing and promoting. Given that we are on day #2, we are in the first part: writing. We’ll start with some advice on how to ensure your creativity remains a constant flow all month long. For some writers, this creativity poses no...
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