How a Book Is Born, Part 12
In which I decide to kill off a character. And then rescind the decision.
In which I decide to kill off a character. And then rescind the decision.
The other day I was at a restaurant trying to get a margarita. The waiter pointed to the menu and suggested some god-awful abomination that included pineapple and herbs. Before he could spout all of the ingredients in this hideous affront to civilized drinking, I put my hand on his arm and said, “No. Margarita….
Lately people have been asking me for advice, and I have not once but twice in a row now made the rookie mistake of actually giving it. I know that most people want to hear, “you go grrrrl!” even when they swear they’re seeking my best, most realistic counsel. But I didn’t say, “you go grrrl!”…
Today’s post is from freelancer writer Randy Hecht, who, like many writers, juggles a number of different types of writing assignments to keep her bank account fat, or at least out of the red. For more about her, click here. A writer contacted me this morning to ask for advice about succeeding as the owner of a writing…
Once upon a time, I wrote a lot of books about the martial arts. It’s not a thing I set out to do, but I did it because people paid me to do it. I ended up writing a dozen martial arts books, more or less, including my very popular Dojo Wisdom series (Dojo Wisdom…
I know a lot of writers and visit a lot of online writing communities, and lately I’ve seen an uptick in the number of people complaining about taking on work that has proven to be a huge pain in the ass (PITA). Partly this is because of the economy – publishers are taking longer…
I have a colleague who sometimes grumbles about newbie writers. “There’s another nurse/teacher/yoga instructor/high school dropout with no relevant credentials. What makes her think she can break into freelancing?” This is a point of irritation for a lot of established writers: just because everyone can write, everyone thinks they can be writers — as if learning the craft and the business were…