by Jamie
Just came across this photo of me at a Romance Writers of America conference, holding one of my favorite book covers. I don’t remember who took the picture or what happened to the blown-up book cover, nor do I remember what I was thinking with that goofy expression on my face. Care to suggest captions, anyone:
Categories: Uncategorized
by Jamie
I occasionally get questions from people about the process of selling one’s first novel, so here’s a quick and dirty explanation. I’ll go into further detail in future posts. First and foremost, you need to have written the novel. This may seem obvious, but it’s very common for aspiring writers to have an idea for a novel they’d like to sell, but an idea is not sellable, at least not to publishers of fiction when your name isn’t Stephen King […]
Categories: Advice for Writers
by Jamie
Anne Lamott’s brilliant book on writing, Bird by Bird, reminded me last night about the importance of the shitty first draft. There is no such thing as getting it perfect–or even nearly perfect–the first time around, so give yourself permission to write stuff you’ll never show the outside world. I was a much more productive writer when I kept this in mind daily. I don’t let anyone see my writing in first draft form. I barely let anyone else even […]
Categories: Advice for Writers
by Jamie
1. Lose the adverbs. Slowly, haltingly, feverishly–whatever. If it has an -ly on the end of it, ask yourself if you really need it, or if there is a better verb you could use. 2. Speaking of verbs, in dialogue, keep it simple. Use he said and she said whenever you need to make it clear who’s speaking, and cut out as many of those as possible. The trick is to allow your reader to get lost in imagining the […]
Categories: Advice for Writers, Reading
by Jamie
Are you an eavesdropper? I am. I can’t help but tune in to the conversations around me. It’s part of being a writer to take everything in, to notice, to study human behavior. I have a bad habit of becoming more tuned in to the conversation at the next table than I am to the one at my own–if, of course, the one at the next table is more interesting. Among the many fascinating snippets of conversation I’ve overheard, I […]
Categories: Advice for Writers, Random Stuff, Reading
by Jamie
“We judge ourselves by what we feel capable of doing, but others judge us by what we have already done.” –Leo Tolstoy This quote caught my attention because it’s such an interesting reminder not to allow our dreams for ourselves sidetrack us from the actual accomplishing of the dreams. It’s so easy to fritter away our lives with “Someday I’ll write that novel,” and “When I have the time I will…” Thinking about the dream and planning to someday accomplish […]
Categories: Advice for Writers, Quote of the Day
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