Building a writing career can be a long, and at times, difficult road. And, many new authors think writing itself is the tough part, but that’s not really the case. Writing a story that you intend to publish traditionally or self-publish has a beginning, a middle, and an end. You can create an outline as…
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Small Home-Grown Book Publishers – Good or Bad?
I’m thrilled to announce that I have an article up at Writer’s Digest! It’s about the pros and cons of working with very small book publishers. What I mean by “very small” is the publishers that are primarily one-man or one-woman businesses. While these home-grown publishers can be a life-saver for the new author and…
Writing Success – Commit to It
Contributed by Suzanne Lieurance Become Totally Committed to Your Own Success. Why do some people succeed against all odds while others never live up to their potential? Those who succeed aren’t necessarily more talented or have more valuable contacts than those who don’t succeed. But what they do have is a total commitment to their…
Traditional Publishing and Self-Publishing – The Differences
It seems the publishing waters are getting murkier and murkier. I think the most significant difference between ‘real’ traditional publishers and services that are NOT ‘real’ traditional publishers (vanity presses, self-publishers, and others) is the cost. This is aside from ‘quality’ in many cases. If you are submitting to a ‘real’ traditional publisher, you will…
Children’s Writing – Creating your Main Character Part2
This is Part2 of an article about creating your protagonist. Well, not just creating him, it’s about creating a powerful and memorable main character (MC). And, it’s based on an article I read at Jerry Jenkins, author of 186 books. Part one discussed: – Naming your character – Making him quickly visible – Let the…
6 Power-Tips to Creating Your Main Character
View Post I read an excellent article by Jerry Jenkins who is an author of more than 186 books and a New York Times bestselling novelist. This is a writer who knows about writing. The article was about creating memorable heroes. Every author wants to be able to do this. So, below are the first…
Secondary Characters – Are They Important?
Before I get into whether secondary characters are important or not, what is a secondary character? A secondary character is any character in the story aside from the protagonist (main character) and the antagonist (villain or force in opposition to the protagonist). Just a side note here, an antagonist doesn’t have to be a character….
Be a Successful Writer Even if You Don’t Think You Have Enough Time
I always think about time and how there just isn’t enough of it to do all the things I must. Then, I look at two quotes that put time in perspective: “Don’t say you don’t have enough time. You have exactly the same number of hours per day that were given to Helen Keller, Pasteur,…
Writing Picture Books for Young Children – A Different Writing Style
A writing style is the way a writer writes a story. It’s the words used, sentence structure, tone used, and even the method used. The children’s picture book writing style is unique for two main reasons: 1. You’re dealing with young children. 2. You’re often dealing with parents and teachers who will read the story…
Writing Nonfiction – Using Quotes
If you’re a fiction writer, there are a number of elements a writer needs to incorporate to create an engaging and believable story, such as characterization, plot, structure, clarity, and so on. Well, Writing nonfiction also has a set of elements that must be incorporated into the piece to create similar results, such as clarity,…