Those Important First Pages

Sometimes you set out to do a thing for one reason … only to find it was so much more than you ever imagined. More than you could have actually planned. In this case, I learned just how much value can be wrung out of focusing on the first chapter and how it relates to...

A Teachable Spirit

A couple-three years ago, I had lunch with an author friend who was in town for a conference. She is a speaker who often counsels beginning writers about craft and process, and that day we were discussing the finer points of teaching/editing grownups. “It’s all about...

Short Saturday: Sharpening Your Manuscript

There is so much good information in this article, I don’t know where to start. But how about here: just because you’ve got the novel down—and have polished the plot until it shines—doesn’t mean you’re done. “All of these things might have escaped your notice while...

No Snake Oil* For Sale Here

Not long ago a friend in the book biz referred a writer to me. She’d written a YA novel, this writer; when she emailed me, I told her I really enjoy YA, but that I require a synopsis and sample chapters before I decide to put a project on my production schedule. This...