Dark of Night Thoughts
From time to time a buzzing mosquito of a thought comes to us, perhaps in the middle of the night: There are so many books […]
Time Management for Writers
What if You Caught Some Zzzs, F. Scott Fitzgerald?
The archetypical swan-pale writer taps out chapters through the night, whiskey at hand, refusing food and slumber. It makes you wonder how much more Fitzgerald […]
Designing a Writing Life
“If you don’t design your own life plan, chances are you’ll fall into someone else’s plan. And guess what they’ve got planned for you? Not […]
In the Swim, In Publishing
I hear this a lot: “It’s just not a good time for publishing any more. Should have been there thirty years ago.” Anybody who dealt […]
Celerity on Golden Wings
Our writing careers are grounded in persistence, goal-writing, outlining, and head-down concentration. But now and then a celeritous writing experience flies in on gilded wings and […]
Getting Past Editorial: Narrative Structure
“I don’t want to spoil the party, so I’ll go.” –Lennon & McCartney Of the three top reasons for rejecting short fiction, the too-slow emergence […]
In Praise of Your Elevator Pitch
One of the finest ways to use 10 minutes in a busy week is to master the elevator pitch — that is, one sentence that […]
Jane Austen and Good Company
“My idea of good company … is the company of clever, well-informed people, who have a great deal of conversation; that is what I call […]
Notebooks and Novelists
Novelists carry notebooks. It’s a symbol of the job, like a 1940’s journalist’s fedora. So, it’s lucky that we love stationery. We get to spend lots of time […]
Three Ways to be Brilliant, 10 Minutes at a Time
It’s hard not to feel the pinch of vital activities, pleasant and otherwise, that appear have little or nothing to add to our writing careers. Our […]