I’ve been reading about first lines, opening lines, first paragraphs, first pages, first chapters and the necessity of persuading readers into buying/reading ones novel. The common term used for the first ‘whatever’ is ‘hook’. Since I’m an occasional angler who only Continue reading Fishing for readers
My wife and I recently returned from a vacation in Voyageurs National Park (VNP) in northern Minnesota. We rented a houseboat for a week and motored up and down the southern shore of Rainy Lake, one of four large lakes Continue reading “The Help” by Kathyrn Stockett—A writer’s review
A good friend of mine died last week. The funny thing is I never met the man. But I feel like I knew him for almost 50 years. We never talked on the phone, never exchanged letters or emails, never Continue reading Baseball Heroes and the Art of Writing
Reflecting further on the University of Wisconsin Writers’ Institute I attended in early April, another workshop that made an impression on me provided a second “I wish I had known that before I wrote 100,000 words” moment. Angela Rydell did an excellent Continue reading More “I wish I had known that before I wrote 100,000 words”
Writing is a journey of discovery, self-actualization, revelation, and I’m sure a bunch of other stuff to a bunch of other writers. For me, who comes to the craft relatively late in life and without formal training (i.e. – English Continue reading I wish I had known that before I wrote 100,000 words
I attended the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s 22nd Annual Writers’ Institute last weekend at the beautiful Madison campus. What follows are some of my general impressions. I may comment on some specific workshops and speakers in a future post. Overall impression: Continue reading My First Writers’ Conference
“If only I had more time to write, then I’d be able to finish my (novel, memoir, short story, non-fiction proposal, etc.). ” Who of us aspiring writers has not had that thought at least once a week? Most of Continue reading How to find an extra two hours per week to write
I was fortunate that a planned visit to my father and stepmother’s coincided with the dates of the Festival, March 12-13. Since Dad didn’t have any special plans due to having had cataract surgery a few days earlier (successful, I’m Continue reading Observations from the third annual Tucson Festival of Books
When prepping a manuscript for submission, whether for an agent, editor, publisher, or even a critique group, I prefer to have my submission as clean and perfect as possible. I was inspired to become a better proofreader and revisor by the Continue reading A Useful proofreading tool I’ve developed
I hit a milestone the other day: my first positive response to a query letter I sent out for my novel. An agent read the first chapter, which I enclosed with my query, and immediately requested the first 50 pages! Continue reading A small moral victory
