Failed Writing Motivators: Do Not Attempt
As a writer, I’m always on the look out for the next motivating factor. The one ritual, the quietest coffee shop, the most caffeinated drink, the tastiest cake, the awe-inspiring view, or the most...
View ArticleClik here to view.
To fiction or nonfiction, that is the question
I’m a big fan of Sloane Crosley. Her first collection of essays, I WAS TOLD THERE’D BE CAKE, offered a voice of a younger generation that was so distinct it set the stage for another collection of...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Successful query breakdown via an author and her agent
I was recently asked by my talented client Kristi Belcamino to join her in a guest post for Writer’s Digest in Chuck Sambuchino’s “Successful Queries” series to share her query letter and my response....
View ArticleWork spaces
My son’s orchestra teacher sent him home with an assignment this past weekend: Film your practice space and tell me why it inspires you or helps you focus while you practice. The resulting two-minute...
View ArticleAll the book’s a stage
Checking Facebook obsessively does have its benefits when it comes to blog ideas–a Facebook friend posted this great blog post on writing picture books. And while the author has a ton of good advice,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Gig economy not new to writers
I recently read a couple interesting articles about the rise of the gig or sharing economy, and conversation on the topic still seems to be very much alive. Regardless of how to define or categorize...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The long and winding path to great writing advice
I think Forbes.com is a wonderful resource for so many things. A couple of years ago I discovered my remarkable client, Amy Morin, who’d written an article called 13 Things Mentally Strong People Don’t...
View ArticleRunning and writing
When my father first moved to New York City in the late 1960s, he got into the jogging trend that had just started sweeping the nation. And ever since, nary a week goes by where he doesn’t go out once...
View ArticleClik here to view.
First person vs. third person
It seems like I’ve been receiving a lot of manuscripts/sample chapters written in the first person lately, and while this is absolutely fine if it works for that particular story/genre, I wanted to use...
View ArticleMixing Music and Writing
A friend of mine recently introduced me to the art of listening to music while writing. He said it helps bring him inspiration and motivation in the same way some musicians use books as inspiration for...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Zen writing life
I’ve been getting into yoga now that I’m inching toward my mid 40s and am suffering from a variety of aches and pains. I appreciate the deep stretching more than the deep breathing although I know the...
View ArticleCommon query and writing mistakes to avoid
I’ve been seeing a lot of no-no’s recently so here we go: what not to do. Buckle up. Long queries that ramble on will significantly hurt your chances. Agents receive a lot of queries, and we don’t have...
View ArticleA Word on Fan Fiction
It was in my early years of high school that a classmate introduced me to the world of Fan Fiction. I thought it was the most amazing thing ever, because not only did I already have the habit of...
View ArticleClik here to view.
At least nine lives for writers
They say a cat has nine lives. I’d like to argue that a writer has many more. Literary lives, so to speak. I’ve talked on this blog before about talented authors like Sloane Crossley making the move...
View ArticleHow long should it take me to write my novel?
Over the weekend, I finished a remarkable first novel. The author had taken many years to complete this work and, in the end, I think the time it took her to do so has paid off (of course, only the...
View ArticleWhen did you know?
When I was a kid, I had zero interest in being a writer. Rock star/shortstop for the Yankees/King of England–those were some of my early career aspirations, but writer never made the cut. In fact, no...
View ArticleA Happy Medium
The novella—a long-ignored literary form—has been back in the news the past couple of weeks. First, James Patterson announced the start of his latest project, BookShots, which will specialize in both...
View ArticleThe book proposal
I know, I know, I have blogged before about doing a book proposal and how important it is. But, it seems from what I am seeing recently that I am not getting through. In the last couple of months, I...
View ArticleGetting It Right
Publishers are crying out for diversity in children’s books, and that’s a good thing. (It would be an even better thing if diversity were more widely represented among the rosters of acquiring editors...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Does writing make you crazy, or are you crazy, therefore, you write?
In our line of work, we are privileged to have up-close, intimate access to the writer’s process. Often, that means being privy to the heights and depths of literary creativity: insecurity,...
View Article