On working with writers
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“Inspiration is for amateurs.”
Or so says the artist Chuck Close. And even though I spent half the morning staring out the coffee shop window, hoping the divine spark would fall out of the sky and land on my head so that I could figure out how to write the scene I’m working on in my newest novel, I absolutely agree with…
On what I learned during Acts 2 through 5
If you’ve been following along at all, you’ll have noticed that a few years ago, I stopped doing as much freelance writing (Act 1) and started focusing on other aspects of my career (Acts 2 through 5). You’ll also have noticed that earlier this year I went back to focusing on freelance writing (Act 6….
How Droll: Pet Peeves
I’m usually a pretty patient reader, willing to give a writer the benefit of the doubt, but occasionally I come across a writer whose verbal mannerisms take me out of the story repeatedly, and then I stop being so patient. Recently I picked up a novel by a much-loved author (loved by other people; I hadn’t…
Thinking Like an Agent, Part 6
Back when I was working as a literary agent, Writer’s Digest published an article I wrote on thinking like an agent. Though I’m an acquisitions editor now, not an agent, these pointers are all still true. I wanted to update them and share them with you. What I wrote then: 6. Contests are great except…
How a Book Is Born, Part 6
On creating strategies that reinforce your habits. If you come to the awareness that you spend three hours a night watching television and this is interfering with your grand designs for the future, what you need isn’t, “I’ll be more disciplined tomorrow!” You’ve tried that and it didn’t work. What you need is to get…
Big Projects and Productivity
A comment on a previous post points out that people sometimes get stuck on long projects and stall because they haven’t figured out the next step. “Write a book” seems a little daunting. You can’t get it done today. So you shy away from getting started at all. Productivity gurus talk about figuring out…