Posts tagged as:

novel writing

Putting Myself Out of Business

A Special Report
All we hear nowadays is that publishers won’t look at unagented material anymore; the legendary slush pile is dead.
But it’s not true! Even if you don’t have an agent (and these days it’s harder than ever to get one), if your novel is completed you can start submitting right now. A number of [...]

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There’s Never Been A Better Time to Write A Novel

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Sure, publishing is feeling the crunch along with every other industry. But that doesn’t mean you should tell yourself there’s no point in working on your novel and put it aside until things get better.
In fact, there’s never been a better time than now to get that manuscript out of the bottom drawer and get [...]

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Keys to Writing a Killer Amateur-Sleuth Mystery Novel

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As the author of thirteen murder mysteries and counting, and a literary agent who represents a number of mystery authors, I keep a list of “musts” for writing a compelling mystery that really holds together. Build all of these points into your mystery novel and your book will be stronger for it.
Make sure your sleuth [...]

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How to Present Background in Your Novel

Presenting background is one of those eternally difficult techniques for novelists. It’s inherently dull because it stops your story—something you want to avoid. Yet it’s absolutely necessary if the reader is to understand your characters’ actions and motivations. So often, beginning writers give far too much background, then compound the mistake by putting the background [...]

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Novelist, Edit Thyself!

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A common writer’s complaint in recent years is that editors no longer edit. That’s by no means true, but it is true that many editors are not able to devote the time to improving a manuscript that they once could. Today, many editors are more like marketers, concentrating first on acquiring books that will make [...]

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