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Storming
Next on my to read list is a newly published book by K.M. Weiland called Storming. Not only are her stories entertaining–I read her novel Dreamlander earlier this year–her non-fiction books on writing have mentored me as I complete my novel. Check out her awesome website and blog. You will find tons of resources and…
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The answer to the question
As a fiction writer, I have always wondered how to break into the publishing companies that announce on their manuscript submission guidelines: “We do not accept unsolicited manuscripts. We only look at manuscripts through an agent.” Then when trying to find an agent — a legitimate agent — the agents are only looking for established…
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Exposing “exposure” for what it is: an insult
As much as I love designing book covers, I don’t have time to do it for free. Last year I designed book covers for a couple of different small publishers. I figured out one publisher would not be paying enough for the time I put into the projects, so I told the publisher I quit.…
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Quense tells how he writes his books and doesn’t apologize for it
Here is my review of Hank Quense’s Planning a Novel, Script or Memoir as it appears in Goodreads and Amazon: I’ve read many books on writing fiction and after a while I see the same theories and best practices over and over. This is not necessarily a bad thing because a reminder is always helpful. However,…
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How to Hack a Flashback: Secret Shortcuts of Bestselling Authors
Great article on writing flashbacks by author Christopher Kokoski.
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Writer’s Block: Just One Sentence
I overcome writer’s block by tricking my brain. I tell myself: “All I have to do just write one sentence for today, and that’s it. That’s today’s quota.” I’ll write that one sentence and then I’ll just keep going. I think telling myself one sentence is enough removes the psychological barriers of “I have to…
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Those Extra Chunks of Time
Don’t wait for just the big chunks of time to write. Use little chunks of time throughout the day: 15 minute breaks; 20 minutes here; even thinking about your story while you drive home from work counts. Those little chunks of time add up. When the big chunks of time arrive –say a whole Saturday…
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Whoa, an epiphany in writing dialogue
In one of my favorite books on graphic design, The Non-Designer’s Design Book, Robin Williams presents the concept of being able to name something so that you can own it. A person may recognize good design in a poster or a brochure, but not be able to know why it’s good design. In her book,…
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What I’m learning as I write my novel, part 2
In my previous blog entry, I began listing some things I’m learning as I write my current novel. Here are some more: Let the story unfold like a snowflake. When writing the discovery draft of a novel, I like to use the snowflake method. This is a method created by writer Randy Ingermanson. I mentioned…
My Projects:
Andrew M. Friday 