So I know this might seem counterproductive, but one of the biggest things I’ve learned in the 5+ years I’ve been writing is…
I’ve been MIA! Apologies for the absence, but I finally MOVED last week, into an amazing duplex in Jersey City that feels positively palatial in comparison to the 375-square-foot apartment we left behind in Brooklyn Heights. It’s been an insanely stressful month, but yesterday as I was sitting on my deck, coffee and book in hand, […]
Editing: an essential part of the writing process. From what I can tell, some people love it, and others love to hate it. I personally love editing my own work, taking that raw material and polishing it to a gleaming shine. But like any part of the writing process, editing comes with countless frustrations. There’s […]
I think Mondays are a good day for a quick writing lesson, don’t you? At the beginning of the work week I’m (usually) in a productive mindset. So going forward, on Mondays I’m going to be sharing some little tips that can improve your writing in a big way. First up: On how (and why) […]
After a good week last week, I’m back to feeling restless. It’s my job, it’s the city, it’s the winter that still hasn’t completely gone away, it’s my miniature apartment. I’m dreaming of wide open fields and blue skies and houses with actual kitchens. I go around in circles: leave the city–but it’s not necessarily cheaper, and I […]
Much has been written on the importance of the first 250 words of your manuscript. All of it is true. It can be hard, as a writer, to keep that in mind–you have the whole story to keep in your mind–so polishing (or demolishing and rewriting) your opening is something best done at the editing stage. Once […]
So I wrote a book. (In a sun-drenched field, on a typewriter. Isn’t that how you write, too?) Then I rewrote it. Then I rewrote it again. And again. And again…
Seems like every piece of writing advice I stumble upon lately has one thing in common: ditch your prologue. Especially if you’re a first time writer. Especially if you’re querying (this article sums it up pretty nicely). In my massive (to me) cutting down of my novel, I decided maybe I should follow that advice. I chopped out […]
(Image found here) I finished what I thought was the final draft of the novel I’ve been working on for the past five years this past Christmas Eve, at my parents’ house, in the morning over coffee next to the Christmas Tree. I remember sitting back, stunned. Am I done revising? Is this really it? Well, no.
