How To writing ideas from me and a few of my writing friends.
I am an evangelist for writing events: writing courses, writing groups and especially writing conferences. As we enter conference season, I find myself dusting off my mental list of reasons why every writer should experience the delight of attending an event relevant to their genre or field. Why Attend Writing Conferences? Ideas Hearing others talk…
Three Reasons to Try Storyist writing software ($59 software for Mac) helped me produce a 320 page novel during July’s Camp NaNoWriMo. Storyist was one of the camp’s three corporate sponsors. With Storyist, I decided to exceed the 50,000 word NaNoWriMo goal and do 80,000 instead. And I did. Here’s how. Everything in One Place…
Towards the end of a ten-week screenwriting class in New York City, a classmate told me she liked my work and that she wanted to propose a collaboration on a screenplay with me. She was a student at one of the top acting programs in the nation and she had dreams of one day producing…
Successful writing means keeping your butt in the chair (BIC), your hands on the keyboard (HOK), and typing away madly (TAM). For some projects one of the computer applications designed for writers can help you persevere to the end of a book, screenplay, or article. For other projects, these writing software products might be a…
I laughed out loud when I read a comment to this effect on a writer friend’s Facebook page. The thought she described was familiar to me, and I suspect many other writers as they enter the world of publishing. First there is the delight of learning that someone wants to publish your beloved story. That…
Trying to format a draft for publication as an e-book can make you reach for the aspirin. Since the introduction of Amazon’s Kindle and Apple’s iPad, e-book sales have grown rapidly. This year Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Kobo expect e-books to provide up to half their revenue in the United States and Canada. Popular…
When Nothing Is There Sometimes it seems like the well is dry but your creativity is endless. You may just need to approach it from a different angle. Try using a writing prompt. They can both help clear your mind and keep you in your writing practice mode. Pick a prompt from one of these…
Many writing workshops start their sessions on character development with a sheet detailing the hero’s name, age, eye color and hair color. They then move onto his job, his hobbies, and his family background. Next they might add a picture from the Internet or a magazine which looks a little like the hero, and perhaps…