You’ve heard it before: Scenes are the building blocks of story. Sounds simple, doesn’t it?  But it isn’t. Those blocks have complexity.Scenes are stories within the story and charged with energy. Whole books are written about how to write effective scenes, and we can spend our whole lives learning to write better and better ones. But here’s something for starters: Ten things to know about writing scenes. A scene is a small story. It has a clear beginning, middle, and … Read More »

Let me tell you the true story of two writers who have many things in common—and one important difference. Both writers had completed first drafts for mysteries with an edge of romance. They are both avid readers with little writing experience or instruction. I had the privilege of doing manuscript evaluations for them. This was the first attempt at a novel for both of them. They had created interesting female protagonists and stories with great potential, and they both demonstrated … Read More »

It seems as if there’s always a new app or other technology being pushed as “essential” for writers. I admit I’m attracted to shiny techie things. I try just about anything new, although I’m finding it harder and harder to keep up will all the innovations. Some apps with steep learning curves can make life more complicated. At some point one has to do a cost vs. benefit analysis. And by cost, I don’t just mean dollars; I also mean … Read More »

From time to time, someone who wants to change careers and become a full-time freelance editor will contact me and offer to take me to lunch in order to “pick my brain” or ask me a “quick question” about the business. I turn down such requests as kindly as I can. I’ve been a full-time independent for 18 years now. It would take me many hours to tell someone all I’ve learned about conducting business over that time, and anyway, … Read More »

You’re getting better at writing scenes. You’ve learned to include brief bits of action that come before, between, or right after dialogue. Called “beats,” these actions can serve as speaker attribution so that tags such as “said” are not necessary. But they also have purposes beyond the merely mechanical. While I would never suggest you get stuck on finessing beats in your early drafts, I encourage you to focus on them during revision. The way you handle beats can enliven … Read More »

We’re looking for writers to join our team of bloggers. Write blog posts that have clear take-aways for the writing community, and follow submission requirements. We ask for a commitment to a monthly deadline. Besides being published on our site, your blog posts will be emailed to 2,500+ subscribers — a mix of members and nonmembers —  and promoted on our social media accounts. Submission Requirements What We Publish We publish posts that educate writers about the craft and business  … Read More »