Oh So Clear Dear Writer — Forget About Value and Focus on Appeal Or how to grow an online audience Image by the author :) Are you struggling to find readers? Wanna attract an audience? Then here’s what I want you to do: Get your dictionary. Thumb through it until you get to the letter V. Scan the pages until you find the word “value.” Bark at the page, sink your teeth into it, violently shake your head, and when you’ve ripped the page off, chew it through until it becomes a saliva-soaked soggy little lump of pulp. Spit it out and trample the wet gunk of ..read more

The Short Of It Creating character investment for original fiction Photo by Robert Anasch on Unsplash Like many of my generation — and I’m sure for the generations younger than me that were basically born online — my first foray into creative writing was fanfiction. I learned many important things, the most significant being… I liked creative writing. Many if not most if not all of the skills from writing fanfiction are applicable in writing original fiction. However, there are some areas that leave something to be desired. Muscles, so to speak, that don’t get worked out as ..read more

Insights gleaned from the master of modern fantasy Photo taken by the author: My ever-growing “Sandershelf” I’ve been in my fantasy book era for the past six months or so, and recently, I discovered The Cosmere — a collection of books and series by the prolific Brandon Sanderson, who is best known for The Mistborn Trilogy and Stormlight Archive series and one of the world’s most successful modern fantasy authors. (His latest Backerkit project, which raised over 23.7 million dollars, is a testament to that.) I’m currently writing my first fantasy novel and have been floored by how dif ..read more

Write Now With Chloe O. Davis Today’s Write Now interview features Chloe O. Davis, Broadway performer and author of The Queens’ English, The Young Readers’ LGBTQIA+ Dictionary of Lingo and Colloquial Phrases. Photo courtesy of Chloe O. DavisWho are you? Hi, I am Chloe O. Davis! I am a Broadway performer, choreographer, and author who lives in the best city in the world, New York City! What do you write? I am an author that likes to dive into the lives, culture, language, and identity of our humanity. I am interested in uncovering the beauty and complexity of who we are ..read more

Don’t do what one author did to me… Photo by Womanizer Toys on Unsplash You’ve probably heard the writing advice to “never break the promise to your reader.” The promise, in question, is the agreement between the writer and the reader regarding what kind of story you’re going to tell. Whether writing fiction or nonfiction, this can include some elements like genre, tone, style, and the overall direction of the narrative. When a writer breaks their promise, it means they deviate from the established expectations in a significant way, which can lead to disappointment or frustratio ..read more

There’s more to it than making them big and scary Image: Author More often than not, monsters leave me feeling uninspired, sometimes outright indifferent — which is so much worse than if I hated them. At least hate means I’m feeling something. By monster, I mean an imaginary creature that has an element of strangeness, of otherness, and plays an active role in the story. Looking over my shelves, I can only find two books that feature truly memorable imaginary creatures and they are Bird Box by Josh Malerman and Alice in Wonderland by Lewis Carroll. I want to be captivated by you ..read more

You won’t say “I don’t have time to write” ever again with this tool. Photo: Nicole Janz In a world of busy schedules, most writers think they need at least a 2-hour block to write — or a whole weekend. I used to be like that. If I didn’t at least have 2 hours to write, I gave before I even started. I told myself I didn’t have any time. And that happened week after week. Over the last few years, I’ve probably been wasting months by “waiting” for long stretches to write. But it was all a lie. I did have at least 10 minutes that I could have used for tiny tasks. I got so ..read more

How to use silence and symbols to increase the impact of your words Photo by engin akyurt on Unsplash As I’ve written before, courtroom advocacy is about effective storytelling. Whether I was writing an appeal brief for a higher level of court, conducting the examination-in-chief of a witness, or cross-examining an accused, my purpose as an advocate was always to bring out the story I needed to tell. And the techniques I used in court for about seven years as a prosecutor and defense lawyer have proven themselves to be extremely adaptable, translating very well to the page in my ..read more

Word Wise: Practical Writing Tips for Freelancers and Solopreneurs Facts tell. Stories sell. Photo by Nong on Unsplash Facts and stories. To write persuasively, you need both. Early in my writing life, I worked with a new client who had two dueling personalities on his creative team. One staffer wanted factual content only. The other insisted that every piece of content open with a heart-wrenching story. “Our most recent stats are powerful,” explained the team member who was grounded in practicality and common sense. “Readers want to know that the problem is tangible. Numbers sh ..read more

THE RECKLESS WRITER You must explore multiple vantage points in order to achieve a complete perspective Image by Walter Rhein I remember my first editing job. I was still in the formative years of my writing journey, and I hadn’t yet become numb to the sting of rejection. I resented that nothing I submitted ever seemed to receive a fair look. When I landed an editing position, I felt a surge of power. “Thanks to me, writers will finally have access to an editor who actually knows what he is doing! I’ll have the whole writing market whipped into shape in sort order!” I was positi ..read more