Evolution of a Sidekick

Yesterday I found out an article I had written more than ten years ago (when I was still wet behind the ears trying to be a writer) had been used as source material for the Wikipedia entry on Sidekicks. I got a good giggle out of being right next to a well known LA Times […]

Name Recognition

One of the most annoying familiar traits of certain genre music is the incessant need habit of speaking their name at the beginning of a song. Listen to an intro of a modern hip-hop song and when you are just getting into the riff and beat, someone will inevitably drop the names of the artists […]

We Are All Sinners

Writers have definite rules. We have Commandments, as I illustrated a few posts ago. Unfortunately, we also have heretics, sinners, apostates (not to be confused with apostrophe’s) and zealots. It is easy to become one of the aforementioned because not only are the commandments constantly changing–what edition are we on the Chicago Style?–they also contradict […]

Book Recommendations (That Actually Help You Write)

If I had a dime for every book that Writers Digest has tried to sell me, I would be a very rich woman. There is always someone trying to sell you a book with the super secret secrets of how to write a novel, how to find an agent, how to edit your novel, how […]

Thou Shalt Not – Commandments of Writing

There is nothing harder for a true believer in the Word, than discovering that you might be guilty of serious blasphemy. Such was the case for me while an acquaintance was reviewing a manuscript for me. I was informed that you can’t use contractions in the narrative. This came as quite a shock to me. […]

Perspective – And How It Feels To Be A Writer

In the book “Misquoting Jesus,” the author remarks about how an event is portrayed four different ways by four different people. He asks himself “Which way did it really happen?” He never admits to himself that it actually might have happened four different ways, all based on the perception of the person who is giving […]

When Your Muse Goes On Strike

Many writers, professional and not, are at the mercy of very fickle Muses. Like OWS protestors or Union workers, Muses are very good at showing you their dissatisfaction, but not so good on explaining why or how to remedy it. For this reason I have written a list of common symptoms. The symptoms of a […]

You Think Too Much…

One thing the internet has shown us quite clearly is that everyone wants to be heard. No one understands this desire better than authors. The opposite end of the spectrum has also been exposed through the power of message boards, blogs, fan sites, Goodreads and Amazon.com reviews: You think too much. I read a book […]

Staying True to Your Story & Characters

Last night I was watching Harry Potter: Goblet of Fire with my daughter and I remembered that it was the first book in the series where I felt JK Rowling was starting to manipulate her characters. It wasn’t only that Harry was starting to do things that seemed unnatural, even for a prodigy wizard, the […]

Sick of Writing Advice?

Every morning I get up and I search the twitter hashtag #writing to see if I can find articles by writers with some great advice. I do it as much to network as to find advice because I’m not really looking for advice. I’ve spent more than 20 years writing and the advice articles may […]