Columns

Talking Myself Out of the MFA

January 23rd, 2020

My history with the MFA goes like this: I wanted to do it. This was like, shit, 15 years ago. I’d finished my bachelor’s, took a year to work and not be in school. During this time, I was working in a library, a job that was more than tolerable after a few years spread across a phone center, Wal-Mart, making pizzas, etc. So, the plan was to apply to some MFA programs, see if I got in, and if I didn’t, I’d apply to the less-choosy world of library schools, get a library science degree, and then get a big boy job.

Read Column →

Hunting Down the Perfect Comp Is More Important Than You Think

January 22nd, 2020

Photo by Matthew Feeney One of the best things you can do for your writing career is learn to select accurate comp titles for your novel. Why? A great comp is the key to unlocking the doors to successful marketing and substantial sales. How? Well, it starts by accepting that finding a great comp title is more than comparing your book to the latest bestseller. But we’re getting ahead of ourselves, so let’s take it back to square one.

Read Column →

Book vs. Film: "Caging Skies" vs. "Jojo Rabbit"

January 21st, 2020

Who would have thought that a film featuring a young boy whose imaginary friend is Adolf Hitler would be nominated for six Academy Awards, including best picture? Moreover, would anyone have figured that said movie would be a heartwarming coming-of-age narrative that is as sweet and endearing as it is darkly comedic (and sometimes downright dark)? Probably few people, but as this is now the year two thousand and twenty, very little should surprise us anymore.

Read Column →

Storyville: Show, Don't Tell

January 20th, 2020

I can’t believe I’ve never written a column dedicated to the whole "show vs. tell" aspect of writing. It’s a very important topic, and I’m not saying that you can’t tell, that you shouldn’t tell—there is a time and a place for everything—but it’s crucial for you as an author to understand the difference, so you can immerse your audience in your prose. Let’s get started.

Read Column →

Start As Close To The End As You Can

January 17th, 2020

There’s a mandate to keep this one short, what with the premise and all. Is your piece not working? Your short story doesn’t pop? Your novel wallowing? Start over. And start the story as close to the end as possible. Newswriting A great lesson I learned from a newswriting class was to include the entirety of the story as close to the opening of the article as possible. Why? Because giving them the details is one way to let them know whether they want to read on.

Read Column →

How To Recover From Writer Burnout

January 16th, 2020

Images via Sebastian Sørensen and Suzy Hazelwood It's the first month of the new year, and many writers see this as a chance to reinvigorate their writing lives. Set new goals. Create new projects. Discover and submit to publications they want to get into. Even make new writing friends. We're about to take another trip around the sun, and there's plenty of time to burn for our creative endeavors. Both morning flame and midnight oil. 

Read Column →

20 Mistakes I Made Writing that You Should Never Do … But I Would Probably Do Again, If I Started All Over

January 15th, 2020

20) Writing this post. See, I got to 19 and figured it was smart to make it an even twenty, but then I looked through the list and thought, “Why am I confessing to all this, even in a semi-comedic meta-cognitive reverse psychology format?” Twist beginning: This is the mistake! It probably won’t really help people and might only be mildly entertaining. What good can come of this or any of it?

Read Column →

2020 Hindsight: 10 Years Worth of Grammar Advice

January 14th, 2020

A decade ago, I decided it was my duty to help people with a less-than-solid understanding of English grammar. To that end, I opened a Twitter account (@writerscramp1—because someone had already taken writerscramp. Jerk.) and popped up a writing class through the Seattle arts organization Fremont Abbey. For a few months, a small group of people showed up regularly and let me lecture them about grammar and craft.

Read Column →

The Magic of Brian Keene’s Bedroom

January 13th, 2020

If you’re hoping this piece will feature some kind of romantic advice I learned from Brian Keene, you're going to be disappointed. If you really want relationship tips from Brian, you should probably just ask him on Twitter, because this will be an unromantic article in many ways. 

Read Column →

Should I Use A Sensitivity Reader?

January 10th, 2020

Maybe you’ve heard a little bit about sensitivity readers. Maybe you’ve heard they’re the PC Police. Maybe you’ve heard that they help bring more diversity to books. Maybe you’ve heard they’re expensive. Maybe you’ve heard they’re worth the price. Maybe you’ve heard horror stories, maybe heroic stories. The real question for writers isn’t whether or not someone else used a sensitivity reader. It’s whether YOU should use one.

Read Column →