I recently read this post on A Writer’s Path about writing pet peeves. In it, the author describes three practices that are irritating, namely cliches, Mary Sues, and sloppy grammar/spelling. Scroll to the comments and you’ll see a handful of others provided by other readers/writers (including yours truly). After I wrote my comment, I got…
If you want to get your book into the hands of more readers, running sales is an effective strategy. Most authors do one of two things: run a $0.99 promotion or offer the ebook for free. Which is the better tactic depends on whom you ask. I’m currently running a free ebook promotion for Drake…
I’ve been reading a book called 100 Days of Solitude by Daphne Kapsali. Yesterday, at the end of the chapter for Day 42 (this coincidence will not be lost on Hitchhiker’s Guide fans), I read this (emphasis mine): I like a clandestine seat in the first class lounge and a suitcase that’s impossible to carry. I…
I saw this pic on Twitter, shared by @TheUnNovelist. This could be the best part about writing – you get to walk around in someone else’s skin for a while (and I don’t mean that in a creepy Silence of the Lambs kind of way). Want to see life through the eyes of a child? Or…
I started following this hilarious account on Twitter called Guy In Your MFA. He represents that potentially fictional, douchey guy who is obviously brilliant in his writing, wants to tell you how yours is all wrong, and will not accept that his work needs any changes whatsoever. Of course he’s a parody, but parodies are…
Confession: I’m writing this post as a form of procrastination and it may be a bit wandering, but I think we’ll end at a coherent place. I’m supposed to be working through my editor’s notes for Part 2 of the Project Renovatio series (hereafter known as Project Liberatio, or PL). And I have been. In…
As I goofed around on the interwebs, I came across this image. So of course I started brainstorming – what are truly boring things a writer could try to make interesting? A potato? A rug? This post?? I suppose it depends on the details. Maybe the rug is Aladdin’s and you can ride around on it. Maybe the…
On Friday, as I scanned the posts in my blog feed, I came across Dan’s flash fiction challenge. It had an intriguing title: Kiss Me. That is, write a kissing scene. Now, while I’m not a romance writer (as some of the writers commenting in the challenge clearly are), the need for a kissing scene has…
Last week, I participated in J. A. Allen‘s Sunday Scribble Challenge, wherein we write a brief entry in response to a prompt. This was last week’s prompt: Two sentences isn’t much space, unless you write a bunch of clauses with commas, and those aren’t my style. So I had to rely on something else to…
I recently had the privilege of guest posting for the lovely, talented, and funny Sarah E. Boucher on the topic of quit days. Since I’m not able to reblog directly, she’s allowed me to paste the post onto my own blog. Click here to see the original post and on her name to head to her…
Allison Maruska 