Writing Advice | Writing Advice
Sep.20.2012
If feeling 1) guilt about not writing or 2) anxiety about your book’s sales will get you to a) write or b) do some promotion, then by all means use negative emotions to create positive effects, but if all your guilt and anxiety is serving to do is make you feel 1a) guilty or 2b) anxious,...
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Sep.19.2012
When doing interviews – blog, print, radio, TV – the best advice to follow is found in the old adage “just be yourself”, unless of course yourself is a big jerk, in which case, forget I said anything.
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Sep.18.2012
Just like it’s never too early to think about what kind of career you’d like to have as a writer, it’s never too early to think about what kind of person you want to be as a writer while you’re having that career: the cheerleader, the know-it-all, the stoic, the professional, the helper –...
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Sep.17.2012
It’s never too early in your career to think about your goals beyond writing the first book – will you be content writing in the same genre forever? do you have other creative-writing itches you’ll want to scratch? – because there’s nothing wrong with having a plan, just so long as you know what...
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Sep.14.2012
If you’ve enjoyed some success in your career, resist the impulse to remind others – as they achieve their own success – that you were there first, thereby diminishing their moment in the sun; for example, it’s never OK to say to a first-time Pulitzer nominee: “I remember when I was nominated for...
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Sep.13.2012
Rather than dreaming that one day your work will be compared to the work of some famous writer, why not dream that one day other people’s work will be compared to yours?
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Sep.12.2012
When you experience a success, share it and give those who support you an opportunity to celebrate your good fortune – yes, there may be those in your acquaintance who will feel bitter, but that’s their sad problem, not yours, unless you’re going to be one of those people who feels bitter when it’s...
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Sep.11.2012
Sometimes, in the middle of a book, it can begin to feel as though you’re pushing a large boulder up an incredibly tall mountain, but here’s the thing: you don’t have to get it all the way to the top today, but rather, you simply need to nudge it up just one inch – reaching your goals is all about...
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Sep.10.2012
Lamb in His Bosom, by Caroline Miller, won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1934 (ever read it? ever even heard of it?) while The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald – published in 1925, won no awards, enjoyed only tepid sales during the author’s lifetime, its author virtually forgotten at the...
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Sep.09.2012
So you’ve decided to write a YA novel because you heard the market is hot there right now, in fact you’ve already started writing it and are very excited, you’re thinking it’ll be much easier to write for teens (the book can be shorter too!) but when asked, it turns out you’ve never actually read a...
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