Our Latest Blog Posts
Six Things Editors Look for in Submissions
Since Florida Writers Association (FWA) is in submission season for our Collection Volume 18: Fragments and as a longtime editor of The Florida Writer, FWA’s official magazine, I am thinking a lot about what editors expect from the work they receive from writers hoping to be published in a literary magazine or anthology. I am sure the following list... Read More »
Brighter Thinking, Better Words
Be Positive. Really? Not everything we hear about living a long and happy writer’s life includes the practice of maintaining a positive outlook. So many writers describe their efforts as misery, trying to come up with the opening line that’s a grabber, the descriptive details or dialogue that sell the character, the solution to the “soggy middle” of the... Read More »
Prologues and Epilogues
Here are two devices that have become very popular in recent years: the prologue and the epilogue. These are little pieces of text, generally only a few pages long, that precede the opening of a book (to set up the story) or after its “The End” (to explain what happens subsequently). Some people like them; some—me included—do not. But... Read More »
The Power of a Sidekick
One of the primary goals of a fiction writer is to create a strong, unforgettable lead character. Yet, most of us have likely discovered that the full measure of many great characters is brought to light by their sidekick, partner, or buddy. This is a person who might share in the story’s adventures. Maybe it’s a character who plays... Read More »
Say It Once
Perhaps it seems self-evident to warn “Don’t say the same thing over and over”—yet it needs to be said. Not because authors are a stupid lot (we aren’t), but because of the on-again-off-again nature of writing and other totally understandable things. Let me explain. I’m currently reading a good novel. The characters are interesting. The scenes are described well.... Read More »
Words Made Flesh : Some Holiday Reflections on Building Characters
For those who celebrate Christmas, this is the season of reflecting on the incarnation of the Word. To bring that down to “word” with a small w and the rather less exalted profession of writing, that means that we who create novels are really taking inanimate words and spinning from them believable people and whole worlds that can pass... Read More »
Write What You Know – Well, Sort of…
The first lesson we typically learn as writers is to write what we know—good advice. After all, we want the reader to step easily into the story, sensing its truth and authenticity. But that idea can also stifle a writer. A woman I was coaching told me she would only be able to write about her divorce. “I really... Read More »
The Bummer about Scammers
It’s difficult enough to be a writer. You slave over words and edits and strive to get published and recognized. And then the scammers move in. Some give flowery praise of your work and promise to get it in bookstores, gift shops and book clubs. All for just a few hundred bucks. I did fall for one scam recently.... Read More »