Category: Uncategorized

by Diane Laney Fitzpatrick We writers all have our heroes. Depending on your genre, personal taste, and even reading experiences that go back as far as grade school, your writing hero might be Edgar Allen Poe or Tolkien, Hemingway or Jane Austen, Mark Twain or James Patterson. But ask a humor writer to […] via The… Continue reading The 3 Steps to Writing Humor: Channeling Erma — A Writer’s Path

by Michael Mohr I want to talk briefly about novel structure because, as a novel editor, I see all kinds of basic issues from the majority of the aspiring writer-clients I work with. There is a wealth of info out there on the web but I wanted to give you a little taste […] via The… Continue reading The Two Pillars of Novel Structure — A Writer’s Path

by Meg Dowell Do you find starting a project is more of a struggle than finishing one? Do you struggle to meet deadlines because you always start much later than you planned? I’ve tried to overcome this barrier in my writing for years. And while some procrastination can be a good thing, there […] via Just… Continue reading Just Set a Start Date — A Writer’s Path

by Christopher Slater The start of the school year brings about a lot of changes for me. I have much less time for blogging, vlogging, writing, critiquing, etc. That time gets taken up by grading, lesson planning, research, preparation, and helping my own child with his homework. Despite this, it can wind up […] via How… Continue reading How Your Reputation Could Affect Your Writing — A Writer’s Path

by Michael Mohr David Corbett—New York Times Notable author of many novels including Blood of Paradise (2007), Do They Know I’m running (2010), and The Mercy of the Night (2015)—published a sparkling, extremely-helpful nonfiction writers’ guide in 2013 entitled, “The Art of Character.” via The 5 Cornerstones of Characterization — A Writer’s Path

by Lauren Sapala I don’t know if it’s that time of year or what, but I’ve been getting a lot of emails from writers lately about finishing things. This is also a topic that comes up frequently in my coaching sessions with writers. Lots and lots of writers out there are terrified that […] via Three… Continue reading Three Types of Writers Have Trouble Finishing Things. Which One Are You? — A Writer’s Path

Stories come in every shape and size, and as an author, you bring your own expertise and experience to your tale. So when it comes to editing, you might not need the same sort of help as someone else. You might excel at catching grammar problems but struggle with writing the blurb, the back-of-the-book […] via… Continue reading The 7 Types of Editing Your Book Needs — A Writer’s Path

by Doug Lewars Book reviews are a fact of life. If it’s your book being reviewed, they’re nice if they’re positive and decidedly unpleasant if they’re negative. Every book is going to have a few negative reviews. That’s a fact of life because people are different, have different interests, enjoy different things, and […] via How… Continue reading How to Write a Book Review — A Writer’s Path

by Richard Risemberg The job of a fiction writer is to lie. Still, if it were only to lie, you could dedicate yourself to advertising or politics instead and accept troubled sleep as the price for prosperity. But a fiction writer must lie to show truth, and that’s not as easy as it […] via To… Continue reading To Lie for Truth’s Sake: The Novelist’s Conundrum — A Writer’s Path

by Andrea Lundgren As writers, we’ve been told over and over how it’s much better to show a reader something rather than tell them, and recently, I wrote about how one can use dance to show a character’s thoughts and how she changes. As a general rule, showing means giving the reader details: […] via Four… Continue reading Four Ways to Plan Showing Vs. Telling in Your Novel — A Writer’s Path