In this edition of Tipster, we consider strategic dialogue.
Dialogue is essential to writing an engaging story, whether fiction or nonfiction.
In her book, Bird by Bird, Anne Lamott makes the...
The one writing tip or hack or technique that covers a host of writing sins is this:
Use more dialogue in your writing.
In "Writing Tools: 55 Essential Strategies for Every Writer," Roy Peter Clark...
“Is this vanity press?” “Are you going to control the rights?” “Do I have to pay a lot?”
These are common questions writers ask when considering...
I get annoyed with all the hubbub about storytelling. It's the "in" thing in branding, TED Talks, and Master Classes. Every conference has a track on storytelling.
It's one thing to trumpet the...
Where do you find an agent? How do you query them? What if they reject your work?
Querying an agent can be downright daunting. You first wonder, Where do I find an agent? And once you find a...
In this edition of Tipster, we consider the mentality of a writing life versus a writing project.
How you think about writing matters.
I have no scientific data to back this up. But...
What is memoir as a genre and memoir as a strategy? Senior Vice President of Editorial at Harper One Mickey Maudlin identifies the differences.
“So what? Why does memoir...
Today is November 1st, and do you know what that means?
We’re beginning NaNoWriMo!
If you’re not familiar with National November Writing Month, it’s a global...
We’ve all studied basic story structures in our high school English classes. And if you’re anything like me, you probably purged them from your memory. What will I ever need to...
In this edition of Tipster, we return to the 'why' of writing.
Why do you write? Or want to write?
Most writers are not full-time writing professionals. They are scientists who write. They are...
A few weeks ago, I wrote about the narrative arc, the journey that you, as a writer, take your reader on.
Whether you're writing an article or a book, you begin in one place and take your reader to...
In this edition of Tipster, we discuss the minimum viable audience.
Only 1,000 True Fans
If you want to write, you want people to read what you write, right?
Melissa and I recently worked on a...
