by Roxanne Rustand Learning to write a concise, appealing synopsis is extremely important. After you start selling, you’ll eventually be able to sell on proposal (a synopsis and three chapters) or perhaps on just a synopsis. There are many formats for writing them and this is certainly not the only method, but it has worked for me. Start with a …
Learning From Other Authors’ Strengths
by Lindsay Harrel Comparison. It’s the big no-no word in the writing world, isn’t it? We’re always being told – and probably telling others – that we shouldn’t compare our writing to that of anyone else. It makes sense. After all, we each have a unique voice, and I’m bound to tell a story differently than you would. But what …
Why I Write About Demons
by Bruce Hennigan I am amazed at times by friends who think that I am somehow in league with Satan because I write novels about demons. Nothing could be farther from the truth. So, why do I write about demons? Because I have stared the enemy in the its face and I will not back down again! My first encounter …
Relying on the Reliable Narrator
by Christine Sunderland World War I (“the war to end all wars”), begun a century ago, seeded an era of cynicism, doubt that “civilization” was possible, that the savage beast could be tamed. England lost one third of their best and brightest young men. Despair and disbelief filled those who were left, a despair reflected in the arts and letters …
Writing Fiction, Sorting Out the Facts
by Rebecca DeMarino A challenge to writing fiction based on the lives of real people and events can be daunting, but not impossible. When it is set in a historical time period, sorting out the facts from lore, stereotypes and misconceptions can make it tricky (or sticky) however. I had concerns about writing a novel based on the real lives …
Facts in Fiction
by Lynn Hobbs Remember the wildfires of Texas during 2011? I lived through them as did many of my friends. When the fires came within two miles of my home, I had to evacuate. Later, after fire lanes were dug and officials cleared everyone in my neighborhood to return home; I carried important belongings with me for weeks in the …
The Writer’s Journey: When Free Climbing is a Team Sport
by Dani Pettrey In my latest novel, Silenced, my lead character Kayden McKenna has a passion for solo free-climbing. If you’re like me, when you first hear the term “free-climbing”, you picture a lone climber with zero fear (and very little sanity), hanging by their fingernails from a 90 degree angle on a cliff face, with no anchors or ropes. …
Using the Keys
by Shirley Gould Don’t you love receiving something you know much thought and care had been given when it was chosen for you? My daughter gave me that kind of present. It was a bracelet made out of vintage typewriter keys, a perfect gift for a writer. It brands me as it inspires me to continue pounding the keyboard toward …
The Upside of Rejection
By Brenda Anderson Rejection. A word most writers are intimately familiar with, a word filled with negative connotations. Merriam-Webster defines rejection as “the action of rejecting: the state of being rejected.” Sounds depressing, doesn’t it? In the midst of rejection, it’s difficult to find something positive, but I assure you, there is an upside. We learn from rejection: You’ve just …
Resurrecting Beauty
by Christine Sunderland I have long been fascinated with the relationship between beauty, truth, and goodness. One of the joys of being a novelist is that I can create characters who share my fascinations. So in my recently published novel, The Magdalene Mystery, a protagonist is devoted to truth in the media and correcting Internet lies. He is also fascinated …