Improve Your Writing: On Dialogue Tags

Just time for a quick writing lesson today…

Read More

Learning from the Masters: The Meet-Cute

So! If you follow me on Twitter you know I started writing a new novel…

Read More

Improve Your Writing: Kill Your Darlings

It’s advice you hear over and over and over again…

Read More

Writing Tip: Take A Break

So I know this might seem counterproductive, but one of the biggest things I’ve learned in the 5+ years I’ve been writing is…

Read More

Learning from the Masters: On Varying Sentence Length

What would you say the goal of writing a novel is?

Read More

How To Choose a Point of View Character

I wrote about point-of-view earlier, but today I want to go a little deeper into that. More specifically: How do you choose who your point-of-view character will be?

Read More

Learning From The Masters: On Subtlety

So I want to talk about one of my favorite things in fiction… Subtlety. I’ve already written about how one of my biggest pet peeves in books is showing and telling. I also wrote a post on how to not do that.  I think the best novels are ones that show you everything that’s happening–then leave it to […]

Read More

Improve Your Writing: On Filter Phrases

Today I want to talk about something very small that can improve your writing in a big way….

Read More

Editing Tip: On Receiving Feedback

I’ve been MIA! Apologies for the absence, but I finally MOVED last week, into an amazing duplex in Jersey City that feels positively palatial in comparison to the 375-square-foot apartment we left behind in Brooklyn Heights. It’s been an insanely stressful month, but yesterday as I was sitting on my deck, coffee and book in hand, […]

Read More

Improve Your Writing: Protagonists

In writing class the other night we got into an interesting discussion. According to my teacher (an agented, traditionally-published writer), the biggest reason readers put down a book is…

Read More