“You become a good writer just as you become a good joiner: by planing down your sentences."- Anatole France There are no rules that limit the length of a sentence, but when our sentences are …
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Own Your Work
Just because you might be a first-time novelist, it doesn’t mean you’re not the authority over your work. No agent, publisher, or film producer knows more about the inner workings of your story than …
The Great American Novel
Every American writer secretly dreams of writing the “Great American Novel.” What would that look like? It’s a book that captures the zeitgeist, that taps into something intrinsic to our national …
Our Characters are Malleable
“Nothing changes more constantly than the past; for the past that influences our lives does not consist of what happened, but of what men believe happened.”- P.L. Berger In the rewrite we're like …
Reframing Your Protagonist’s Goal
“Nothing worth doing is completed in our lifetime; therefore we must be saved by hope. Nothing true or beautiful makes complete sense in any immediate context of history; therefore we must be saved by …
How to Become a First-Time Author
The journey to becoming a first-time author is different for everyone. For me, it involved letting go of the idea that I’d ever get published. I know this sounds counter-intuitive. The temptation …
How to Write Your First Novel
Writing your first book might actually be fun. I’m serious. I know you’re terrified. It’s a scary thing to do. But, at the risk of sounding like I was raised on a Portland commune, that fear is just …
Narrative Drive
“The purpose of narrative is to present us with complexity and ambiguity.”— Scott Turow If you’re rewriting and a point in your story feels flat, here are some questions you can ask yourself: 1) …
Ten Signs of a Good Writing Instructor
Choosing a writing instructor is a big decision. They are not all created equal. Here are some guidelines and suggestions that may help you in making your decision. 1) Qualifications: …
Writers, The Time is Now
I know writers who have struggled for decades to complete their first novel. They work on their novel for a while, then distractions come along. They put it in a drawer, fish it out a few years later, …