Stop writing like you’re directing a movie A common mistake I see is when a writer begins to direct his or her character. Rather than taking me deep into a POV, the writer has chosen to tell me about what the character is doing. Walking across the room. Opening a cabinet. Checking email. While…
I first met Jeremiah several years ago when he was assigned to open and lock up the building we were using for a Write Well Sell Well conferences. Our whole faculty was impressed with Jeremiah’s sweet, ready-to-serve attitude that he brought every day and to every task. He politely asked if he could sit in…
Being a freelance writer can have its perks and its pitfalls. I have the freedom to go to lunches and throw laundry on during the day, but every piece of freedom I grab takes away from the time and effort needed to finish a project. It can quickly become chaotic if you’re not careful, and…
You’ll hear a lot of good advice at writer’s conferences. One of those pieces of advice is that to be a professional writer, you need to be sure to write what is marketable. Write what publishing houses are looking for. Write what agents want to represent. Write what readers crave. If you heed this advice,…
It was an extraordinary statement among all the startling statements I’d been listening to over the last few weeks. You’d heard the news cycle: Infection rates. Projected deaths in the United States. Government cover-ups in foreign lands. The television drenched us with one horrific piece of news after another. But as I stood in my…
For many writers, the thought of writing a full-length novel seems amazing. They’ve had the story in their mind for years, and now it’s time to finally put it on paper. They have backstory ready to go. Character arc is fully developed–sorta. Plot points are in place. The ending is in limbo but they’ll figure…
