Tag Archives: writing

Years of publishing has taught me that a book written and published quickly can be just as good (or better) than one that took ten years to polish. Even though I have a PhD in Literature and spent nearly a decade as a book editor, I’ve seen far too many beautifully edited books fail; I’ve also spent times editing projects …

In the writing community, there are two basic ways of writing books. Pantsers just write, not knowing where they are going to end up. Plotters go into it with an organized plan and chapter outline. Neither (I believe) is inherently better. However, I do think: A) it’s much easier to finish a book if you plot it B) it’s much easier …

I recently watched the movie “Genius” – which is about Thomas Wolfe and the editor who got him into print. The topic is a fascinating one, something I’ve discussed in previous posts, but fleshed out in more romantic detail in the movie. In short: “genius” is the pure, uncivilized, manic, raw, passionate energy that produces the work. The book belongs …

I see a lot of inexperienced authors saying things like, “If that crappy book can sell a million copies, mine will do way better.” This post will break down all the errors in that statement. First, it’s good to know your competition. But you also need to respect it. Authors who make statements like that often haven’t even read those books they are denigrating; …

Since I started writing fiction, I learned my design skills and art background make me really good at visualizing scenes. I even developed some mental tricks for creating powerful, resonant scenes that stick in people’s minds. I started thinking of each scene as one perfect picture, with a flash of color to draw the eye – an object representing the …

Last week I went through my manuscript one last time and sent it out to beta readers; I’d already gone through it a dozen times, and I thought it was pretty clean. I assumed there’d be a handful of typos (there always are), and that the beta readers would catch them (they usually do). However, while usually I had one …

One of the (many) side projects I’m working on is a Zombie Guide to Good Grammar. I’d like to finish in December and have it out by Christmas, but I’m having a little trouble with it, so I thought I’d ask for some help. I have 25 common grammar mistakes, but I need to write 25 zombie/apocalypse themed examples. Ideally these will …

I’ve been working with authors for a long time; as both book editor, book designer and sometimes even publisher. I’ve helped thousands of them try to improve their book enough to sell – either to an agent, or to self-publish and actually be successful. During all that time I’ve met a lot of authors whose books will fail. They’ll fail …

I made this for an event recently, it was a handout – decided to post it here in case it’s helpful… #1 Write a book people want to read. #2 Connect with influencers or other authors in your genre/topic. Review their books. Share their stuff. Comment on their posts. Get noticed. #3 Set up a website that catches emails. Run …

I started this post a few years ago when I was working on a book project called “The Creative Brain on Drugs.” I’ve left the original content down below – but more recently I’ve been focused on writing faster and boosting word count: when I searched for “best smart drugs for writers” Google actually showed me this post… so I’m …