Tips and Advice About Writing and Self-Publishing
The Hi Susan e-mails are piling up so I thought I’d answer one today. Jenny asked the following- Is it okay to use real people as characters in your story? While you want all your characters to be appear as close to real life people as possible, portraying someone that a real life person could recognize as…
I have about twenty Hi Susan e-mails waiting for me so thought I’d get to at least one this week. Chloe writes- Is it true that a fiction authors should only write about an experience they’ve gone through themselves? When I started writing, I’d heard that too. My first book was based on my own experience…
Our first Dear Susan post of the year. Joy sent me this e-mail… I’ve been writing for five years, sent out what seems like lots of stories. I know I’ve been close to getting published a few times but it doesn’t seem like it’s ever going to happen. Any advice about when I should…
Say hello to the first guest blogger of 2019, Barbara Plum whose post takes us back to our school days… Remember those dreaded high-school English themes? Did your teacher, when asked about length, compare the assignment to a skirt? “Long enough to cover the subject. Short enough to be interesting.” Say what? How does this…
It’s time for another Hi Susan post. This question was e-mailed to me by Jenny- I keep getting rejection after rejection and I’m getting to the point where I want to give up. Will I ever write a story that’s good enough to be published? Been there, had that happen, and also had thoughts of giving up.…
If you’ve ever taken one of my classes you’ll know that I’m not shy about telling you about my writing Achilles’ heel. I’m about to share it with the TWL community because I think letting others know about our weaknesses helps us all become better writers. My least favorite thing about writing (apart…
Time for another Hi Susan post. Sara asked the following- I submitted my synopsis and first three chapters to an editor two months ago and I haven’t heard anything about my submission. When should I contact them to ask what’s happening? I know how frustrating it is when you’ve sent your work to an…
I’ve been sorting through some of my old files and I came across this short article I wrote for, well, I can’t remember because it’s been that long. Best thing is it’s still relevant and fits in with the summer writing challenge so here it is… Raise your hand if you’ve begun writing a book. Now…
My goal for this site is to post something at least five days a week and yes, there’s only so much I can do so on Tuesdays and Thursdays I’m turning This Writer’s Life over to you. Established writer, aspiring writer, author, non-fiction guru…you get the picture. Only rule is it has to be a…
My apologies for not posting tips for the last couple of days but I got busy formatting books and trying to add more words to my NaNoWriMo story. It’s the final day of the challenge and while I haven’t finished the story, I have written 50,000 words plus this month which leads me into the…
