Writing romance: why perfect men make boring heroes [REPOST]
~ By Katie McCoach Note: This article was originally published on the Standoutbooks blog and can be viewed here. Recently I was reading a promising romance novel, and then, in the midst of chapter six, I found myself placing the book face down on my kitchen table in frustration. The hero was absolutely perfect. And I was […]
Procrastinator Support Group [REPOST]
~ By Kim Relph Czerwonka Hi, my name is Kim and I’m a procrastinator. Not only am I a procrastinator but I am at wizard level. Now the basic definition of procrastination is the practice of delaying or postponing the completion of a task. Advanced procrastinators don’t simply delay a task they often replace it with a […]
My Writing Survival List
~ By Jade Chandler Please stand up now, raise your right hand and repeat. Writing is a solitary art. But that doesn’t mean you have to be lonely. One of many things I hear about writing is that it is for loners, that it’s all about the muse waking up full of ideas, and that with […]
Goal Setting in 2016
~ PJ Sharon PJ Sharon, here. As a published author with seven novels, a novella, a short story, a box set, and a non-fiction healthy lifestyle book (about to be released), I can say without a doubt that setting goals is essential to success. At the very least, setting goals will help you focus and […]
Craft Books and the Creative Process
~ By Win Day Note: This post originally appeared here. I love to watch people work. No, it’s not that I’m lazy, or that I just want to sit on the sidelines of life. But I really enjoy watching someone do something they do well. Especially when it’s something I don’t know how to do […]
The Courage to Write…or Not
~ By Marilyn Brant This article originally appeared here. Not to state the obvious or anything, but writing takes courage. Sure, there are all the usual reasons: *Because we get scores of rejections on the way to publication — from agents, from editors, from just about anyone who so much as glances at the manuscript. *Because […]
Writing: POV
~ By Corrina Lawson Note: The post originally appeared here. Yes, we can argue all day long about whether switching POV in the middle of a scene is a good idea or not. But here’s why POV is important: the way a reading is sucked into a story is that they’re seeing the world through a […]
The Power of Story: It Goes Beyond the Brand or the Genre
~by Pamela Aares Oh the drum rolls, the eye rolls, the intake of breath when a writer tells an editor they are going to write ‘out of genre’, that they are going to write in a new time period, that they are inspired and gripped by a story set in a new place or with […]
Write What You Know… Or Just Write What You Love
~ By Heather Thurmeier I was always told, “Write what you know!” Well, for a long time I didn’t want to do that. I mean, what the heck do I know anything about, that readers would find interesting? Is anyone going to find my laundry list of daily activities for taking care of my house […]
This Week in Chick Lit
banners broker ~ By Melina Kantor Hello Everyone. I hope you’re all having a somewhat relaxing and enjoyable summer, and that if you’re in one of the many places where it’s really unspeakably hot right now, I hope you’re staying cool. This week, I came across an article on the appeal of chick lit. I’m sure […]
[Repost] Shiny Happy Characters
~ By Melina Kantor When I was 27, I had to leave New York and move back to California. And back into my mother’s house. Now, I love my mother. And I love her house. And it would be wrong to complain about living in the beautiful San Francisco Bay Area. But I was 27, […]
Thank You, Nora Ephron
~ By Melina Kantor Sadly, this week’s biggest chick lit related story is the news about Nora Ephron. Yes, she may have been best known for writing chick flicks, not chick lit, but she was definitely a role model for us chick lit writers. As Jennifer Weiner put it in her Huffington Post article Nora […]
