The Reading Rainbow theme song really had it right. One of the best parts of reading is the way books open up new worlds to us, whether a story is set in an unpronounceable ancient kingdom, the far reaches of outer space, ancient history, the distant future, or even the real world but maybe somewhere […]
writing advice
Don’t be too easy on your characters
We writers can get really, really attached to our characters. They become almost like family members. We want the best for them. Sometimes it can be difficult to see them make mistakes, to see their flaws, and to let the bad qualities shine through from time to time. We can be way too nice to […]
J.K. Rowling…… (This week in books)
This week! Books! As thousands of people around the world continued protesting injustice and brutality in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement and at the start of Pride month, J.K. Rowling decided to double down with views on transgender people widely seen as transphobic, first in a series of tweets, then on a more […]
The 8 essential elements of a story
Not only do I find editing novels and helping authors achieve their vision incredibly meaningful, it’s such an interesting exercise because it forces you to think very deeply about storytelling. It’s a wonderful challenge to be forced to articulate what’s working and not working in a story and, most importantly, why it’s not working. Lately […]
Why you should start before you’re ready (This week in books)
This week! Books! Also writing! Austin Kleon has a pretty awesome blog, and I especially loved this recent post about the importance of starting an artistic work before you really think you’re ready. It’s easy to get paralyzed by the planning when in actuality it may be time to just get going. The Mister Rogers […]
7 reasons your characters feel flat
Readers have to love your characters. Full stop. Characters who feel lifelike and relatable will compel your readers to turn the pages and breathlessly await the sequels. Characters who are dull or flat will send your readers scurrying for another book. And yet it’s so tricky to really nail a lifelike character and to translate […]
