Sometimes, rarely, I enter competitions. I’ve won two: a state of the art camera for a wildlife poster I designed, and the other a novel for randomly throwing my name into a hat. The camera got stolen, but I still have the novel–Yann Martel’s Beatrice and Virgil, which I haven’t read yet. You may remember that …
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Does Your Novel Have a Theme with a Capital “T”?
Theme is like a truffle – it has to be there, just under the surface, but one must snort through much mud to unearth it. A most unpleasant process I’ve been stuck in for the last few months. So why do I keep at it? Won’t the theme of my book just magically appear once …
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Strike Three! You’re Out! Throwing the Perfect Pitch
Sometimes I think I’ve hurled more pitches than a major leaguer. And I’ve struck out nearly as much. Only that’s a good thing for a pitcher, not so good when you’re trying to sell a manuscript. There are two ways to pitch: in a query letter or in person. Of course a query letter is …
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Pace, Friend or Foe?
About a year ago I sat down at a table with a large number of authors, some published, some not. We talked about everything, our writing successes, hopes, and failures. Toward the end of the meal, someone hit on a subject that proved a hot button for many of us. The topic in question regarded …
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Secret benefits of NaNoWriMo
Last week I said I’d write about NaNoWriMo, that whirlwind of writing activity centered around churning out a novel in 30 days. A year ago I actually pulled it off without registering, as I wanted to see if such a thing could be done, if I could do such a thing. At the end of …
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What’s a B-Story? And Why That Love Triangle Doesn’t Cut It
Before I explain what a B-Story is and why it’s crucial, here’s a list of what it is not: Comic relief that is inconsequential to the main story. A side plot that has nothing to do with your hero. A tacked-on love story to appease those who say YA needs a love triangle. These are …
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*Non-Movie Star Ennui: The Lonely Life of the Writer
I’m suffering from a serious case of ennui, which is the French word for boredom and the result of having retired from my “real job” about seven years ago. It should make me feel better knowing the French have given it such an elegant name, but it doesn’t. Honestly, I awoke the other morning and …
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The Pudding in the Mix, The Gooey Center of a Novel
Sometimes the pudding in the mix is yummy. Like in a cake. But in a novel, the pudding is the enemy. It’s that soggy center section of a novel, and it’s a problem that can take many forms. It’s the whipped up middle, a light fluffy mousse of writing, where the author whisks the same …
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The Unreliable Narrator
If we look up the meaning of the word AUTHOR, we discover that one of its definitions is GOD. That’s audacious at best. But what does it mean? It means we get to create a world entirely of our own making. We get to decide what it looks like, who and what populates it, and best of all, …
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Outlining – Method 3 cont: From Sticky Notes to Proper Scenes
So you’ve outlined your novel into a Wall of Sticky Notes or a Corkboard of Cards. Congrats, stuff happens! But stories are not just stuff happening. Stories are a series of scenes. Is each note/card a proper scene? Not sure? Take this test: Is That A Scene? Next Up from Heather… Robin pointed out that …
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