by Monica M. Clark |
By the end of this post you will be using an excel spreadsheet.
Don’t make that face—I know you’re a writer and not a data analyst. Or if you are a data analyst—I understand that you’re on this blog to get away from you day job. I get it. But guess what? At the suggestion of Randy Ingermason—the creator of the Snowflake Method— I listed all of the scenes in my novel in a nice little Google spreadsheet. It changed my novel-writing life, and doing the same will change yours too.
by Sarah Gribble |
Do you want to be a writer but are hesitant to try because you haven’t taken any writing classes? Wondering if you need to have a degree in order to write?
Guess what? You don’t have to have a writing education to be a writer.
I don’t have one and have been published dozens of times. And today’s interviewee is the same way.
by Sarah Gribble |
At some point in your writing process, you’re going to need to put your work into the hands of others. Beta readers and professional editors should be an important part of your writing team. (And yes, writing is a team sport!)
I often get a lot of questions about the revision process, namely how to get beta readers and when to hire a professional editor. Our interviewee this month is here to answer those questions!
by Sarah Gribble |
How do you live “a writer’s life”? By writing! (And editing, and publishing, and marketing. But we’ll get to that.)
But sometimes (okay a lot of the time) it’s hard to fit writing into our busy, busy lives. Kids, school, work, house maintenance, relationships . . . We’re pulled in a million directions every day.
The key to fitting in anything important is to find the time and protect that time.
by Sarah Gribble |
Ever wonder how to come up with story ideas? Ask any writer and invariably they will tell you “life.”
A writer’s greatest source of ideas comes from their real-life experiences. From going to the grocery store to careening down a snowy mountain, real life is every writer’s inspiration. You just need to look and you’ll find a story.
by Sarah Gribble |
Writing dialogue boils down to one big rule: Make it sound realistic.
You not only communicate every day (unless you’re on a really heavy writing binge), but you hear other people communicating. Dialogue is all around us. Constantly. Sometimes too constantly. The TV blares it. Your favorite novel is full of it. Your family squawks it over dinner.
Inherently, you know how to write dialogue. Sometimes you just have to get out of your own way in order to get it on paper.
