[perfectpullquote align=”full” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””] Until you know who you are, you can’t write. -Salman Rushdie. [/perfectpullquote]
WRITING
Writing a mystery novel is challenging. It demands a keen sense for plot, characterization and creating suspense. A story that actively engages readers in solving the mystery (or in trying to piece together the narrative threads) needs at least 7 elements.
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Writing and selling your mystery novel
- Scene structure: Scenes as segments and capsules of time, Live Write Thrive | Tweet
We’ve heard it countless times: show, don’t tell. Sounds simple, right? Wrong. There are a myriad of choices a writer has to make in order to “show” and not “tell” a scene. Writers are often told they need to show, which in essence means to create visual scenes the reader can “watch” unfold as they read.
- 3 Tips for seamless scene setting, Writers in the storm | Tweet
Settings aren’t just hang-outs for your characters. Let’s talk about ways to put your fictional places through their paces.
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Make a scene: Crafting a powerful story one scene at a time
- Simplicity and Elegance in storytelling, Terrible Minds | Tweet
When you’re writing a story, know that often simple and elegant is better than complex.
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- The most important question for plot development, The Write Practice | Tweet
Let’s be honest. Plot development is not always fun. Sometimes it’s really hard. Sometimes, your story gets stuck in a rut, backed into a corner, or just gets flat and boring.
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Character development: The reaction chart, Write on Sisters | Tweet
Creating characters to populate your novel or screenplay is a lot of fun. You get to devise different backgrounds and opinions and alliances and secrets and all kinds of interesting stuff that brings the cast to life. But you can have the most detailed character sketches and richly drawn cast ever, and your story could still fall flat. How? It all comes down to how your characters react.
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Nail your novel Instant fix: 100 tips for fascinating characters
- Writing advice examined: Should you write the book of your heart?, Go Teen Writers | Tweet
Writing advice examined: Should you write the book of your heart?, 
Here’s a brief summary of the story. Arthur is given a class assignment to write a story. Any kind of story. Arthur knows exactly what he wants to write about—when he got his puppy.
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The essential guide to writing a novel
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- How to write dazzling dialogue
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- The Emotion Thesaurus: A Writer’s Guide To Character Expression
SCREENWRITING
- Why scripts are rejected: 10 screenwriting errors to avoid, Writers Helping Writers | Tweet
90% of the scripts registered with the WGA are never completely read by script readers. They are rejected early on by readers who are overworked and pretty intolerant of basic errors that would-be screenwriters make. If you want to be in the 10% that get fully read and receive that call for further discussion, then don’t make these 10 fatal errors.
- 5 Important ways storytelling is different in books vs movies, Helping Writers Become Authors | Tweet
These days, everyone is writing movies. Including novelists. Not screenplays, mind you, but even if you’ve never touched a Celtx program and will never see your story on the big screen, you’re still writing movies.
- The business of screenwriting: commencement of principal photography, Go into the story | Tweet
There are several significant days in a screenwriter’s life. There’s the phone call. Your first big paycheck. Your first day on a movie set. The day your movie premieres.
- Lessons in acting and writing: from working with real people and no script, Script Mag | Tweet
Can you always spot the difference between someone who is acting and real life? Or between scripted dialogue, improvisation and genuine conversation?
Legally Speaking, it depends: Fashion in film, Script Mag | Tweet
Without fashion, the movie industry would all be making pornos (or at least nudist documentaries). Clothes are so integral to our daily lives that we don’t often think about all the different aspects of how they can affect how we do our jobs.
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- Super Structure: The key to unleashing the power of story
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SELF-PUBLISHING
- Why SEO is useful for self publishing authors, Just Publishing Advice | Tweet
Because SEO can bring potential book buyers to you.
Indie Authors: Focus on what matters most and take action now, The Book Designer | Tweet
Focus on What Matters Most and Take Action Now. It is my mantra. I used to struggle to keep on track. Most of my life, my brain would churn out an avalanche of ideas, flooding my mind and taking my attention off of what I had already started.
- How to find and work with a book publicist–successfully, Jane Friedman | Tweet
Because marketing and publicity help is the most common request I receive, I was very interested in hearing advice from these publicists about what authors can expect from a professional firm and how the process works. What follows is a summary of their comments from both panels.
We are incredibly proud. After months of work, we are releasing the first version of the Reedsy Book Editor, a writing tool that will transform the way millions of authors create their books.
Infrastructure and strategies to sell more books, Author Marketing Experts | Tweet
In this two part series, I want to share some insights to help you understand how to establish a foundation that will set your book up for success, and build upon that foundation with strategies to sell more books.
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