Recently, one of my writing students asked for advice on how she should structure her novel. “I already have fifty pages and I don't know
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Is It Harder to Be a Novelist or a Screenwriter? (Plus a Brief Meditation on How Being a Writer Should be Like Smoking Cigars.)
Lately, my novelist friends and I have been talking about finding other jobs because the publishing business is so rocky. Usually this list of
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I Wrote for 17 Minutes Yesterday!
Last weekend, I participated on two different author panels during the 2016 Newburyport Literary Festival, an event packed with
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How One Coach Got Me Off the Couch—and Inspired My Writing
I'm the mother of three champion long distance runners. I honestly don't know how that happened, since I was never a runner. But I showed up at almost
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When Writing, Sometimes All You Can Do Is Jump
The most important thing every writer has to do is take a leap of faith. What does that mean, exactly? That, no matter how stuck you are at the
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How to Love the One You’re With (Even If It’s a Manuscript): Four Tips that Really Work
For many writers, word count is everything. Me, not so much. At the start of every manuscript, I might write 2,000 words one day, only to decide that
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Suffering Doubts about Your Writing? 4 Time-Tested Tips to Help You Through a Crisis in Confidence
As I raced through the grocery store last Saturday, I ran into another writer, someone I've seen at occasional parties. “Wow,” she said. “I see you
Read MoreHow Long Does a Novel Take to Write?
I binged this past weekend. Not on reality TV or chocolate or martinis, but on writing. I booked a cheap off-season condo in Maine and wrote 17,822
Read MoreHow to Keep Your Writing Warm When You Can’t Write
It's a blessing to take a writer's retreat, whether you do it officially at a place like Yaddo or the MacDowell
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