Unpenned: Turning the Novel Loose
“There comes a time when you have to let the novel go.” “It will never be perfect.” “You can’t fiddle with it forever.” Yadda, yadda. So goes the writing advice about when to finally set a novel free in the…
YA Wednesday: What is YA, Who Should Read it, Who Should Write It, and YA Tips from Teens
The students are back, traffic is worse, the humidity is rising, and tempers are flaring. Maybe you’re a miserable office-worker who can’t find any place to park because it’s move-in day, or a student struggling to assemble IKEA furniture for…
Your Muse and Your Marketplace: The Self-Interview
The first time I heard about self-interviews was during my high school obsession with The Doors. I read somewhere that Jim Morrison wrote self-interviews. Soon after, I began doing one in my personal journal every few months as a way…
Friday Feast: Overvaluing “Difficult Fiction,” Conflicting Social Media Advice, Self Promotion Evils, and a Book Title Generator
Sometimes, it feels like the publishing world is messing with us. One week they’re telling us something is amazing, the next week, admonishing it. What’s a well-intentioned author to do? You could ignore the advice. Read the advice. Assess the advice. Use…
The Importance of Hating Your Own Writing
Every revision has its own character. There’s the first messy revision, during which you try to cull from the confusing mass of pages some sort of a narrative. The second brings with it massive structural changes (in my case, cutting…
YA Wednesday: Summer Reading Lists, Alternatives to Harry Potter, A Clueless Booklist, and a YA Character Generator
Summer’s almost over. Soon it will be time to get out of vacation-mode at work, or even worse, go back to school. But before you bawl your eyes out, there are still a few days left to catch some rays…