Blogger: Mary Keeley
Recently, I read a Harvard Business Review online article by Jeff Rodman, a corporate co-founder. The title, “How I Built a $2 Billion Company by Thinking Small,” is what first caught my eye. This type of topic …
writing craft
5 Traits of Successful Writers
Blogger: Mary Keeley
Produce marketable, well-crafted books that readers devour and remember long after they turn the last page. This is the goal of any committed writer. But the path to that goal is almost always bumpy and loaded with …
The Very First Page
Blogger: Rachel Kent
The first page of your manuscript is more important than you might imagine. You want the opening paragraphs to shine because, it turns out, if they don’t stand out, often that’s as far as an editor or …
10 Tips for a Clean Manuscript
Blogger: Mary Keeley
Writers have so much craft or technique to master. If you are a novelist, you’re consumed with things such as adding more tension or deepening the character development. If you write nonfiction, you’re concerned with organizing your …
Best Use of Story Flashbacks
Blogger: Mary Keeley
I was talking to a new novelist recently about where to begin her story and the best way to introduce important backstory information about her main characters. It’s been a while since I’ve blogged about anything craft …
Love Learning
Blogger: Mary Keeley
Our brain sensors are always taking in information. Experts say that every brain is wired differently. Imagine that. I don’t even know how to wire an electrical outlet. How well we process the information filtering through our …
Dreams Come True at Mount Hermon
Blogger: Michelle Ule
Filling in for Rachel, Janet and Wendy over the next three days as they attend, and I write about, the Mount Hermon Christian Writers’ Conference.
This is the story of my first visit to the Mount Hermon
…
Action is Character
Blogger: Rachelle Gardner
Today I want to talk a little about the craft of fiction writing, and a principle I learned back when I used to write and read screenplays.
In real life, it’s not what a person says that …
Secondary Characters
Blogger: Mary Keeley
Julian Fellowes continues to amaze me. Loyal viewers are as engaged in Downton Abbey’s final season episodes as they were during the first season. No doubt the historian that was hired to advise and ensure the authenticity …
An Agent’s Prerogative
Blogger: Wendy Lawton
You’ve heard that it’s a women’s prerogative to change her mind. As an agent I’m going to claim the same prerogative. As I look back on some of the things I stated categorically about the craft of …