Authors use pen names for assorted reasons. Here are some that come to mind. To Hide Their Identity Sometimes an author needs to not identify themselves to protect them and their loved ones. This might be because they write about a highly volatile topic or a significantly personal one. A pen name protects them and […]
Celebrate Brevity In my post “Writers Should Start Short and Then Go Long,” I talked about the benefits of writing short stories. I’ve catalogued mine and analyzed them. You should analyze your short stories too. Here Are My Results So far, I’ve written 23 short stories (plus one that turned into a novella). Most of […]
Hone Your Skills on Articles and Short Stories Before Attempting a Book In “How to Write a Book,” I posted that the best approach for aspiring book authors is to start out with shorter pieces. No one wants to hear that, but it’s true. Shorter pieces let writers experiment and learn—quickly. Feedback is fast. And […]
In 2016 I posted “Recommended Podcasts for Writers and Content Producers.” Though I’ve made some updates to my writing podcasts post over the years, it’s time to make a new post. Of that list of 17 podcasts, six have ceased and one I stopped listening to. That means 10 have remained, some of which have […]
How to Handle Rejection before and after Publication Rejection comes at two times: prior to publication and after publication. Pre-publication rejection comes from agents and publishers saying “no” to our work. It isn’t good enough or “doesn’t meet our needs at this time.” A form of what can feel like rejection also comes from feedback […]
It’s hard to catch mistakes in our own writing. No matter how hard I try, I still miss a lot. With every piece I get back from an editor, I’m dismayed over the many errors I didn’t catch, even though I know better. Of course, they also spot many mistakes I would have never caught, […]
Do you want to improve as a writer? I do. Here are the things I’m currently pursuing to get better: Although improvement only creeps forward, these steps move me in the right direction. May they do the same for you.
To write a novel, first, start with short stories. Many of the elements required for short stories carry over to longer works. In addition, it’s better to experiment on a 1,000-word short story than an 80,000-word novel. Once you’re comfortable with short stories then you can move on to longer works. Short Story Tips Writing […]
We’re Wise to Learn What We Can from Other Writers This blog is about writing and publishing. I share what I know in the posts, and you share what you know in the comments. Our monthly segment, UR Turn, allows us to focus on this. We can learn from each other. In addition, we can […]
Anu Garg from A Word A Day once noted: “If you speak English, you know a little of more than a hundred languages. That’s because English has borrowed words from so many languages around the world.” Generally, these words are commonly known and easily understood. In most cases, the original language is unknown to the […]