Fiction How-to

How to Cut Your Word Count

by Lindsay Flanagan | | Blog, Editing, Fiction How-to, Nonfiction How-to | 0 Comments

by Sabine Berlin The dreaded word cut! We’ve all been there and are with you in spirit! For starters, if you need to know the standard, accepted word counts of your genre, here’s a great article on the topic (pretty critical to getting picked up in traditional...

Conscious Language: Writing with Respect and Compassion

by Lindsay Flanagan | | Blog, Editing, Fiction How-to, Nonfiction How-to | 0 Comments

Guest post by Crystal Shelley Writers have many factors to keep in mind when trying to decide what words to put down on paper or type on a keyboard, such as their audience, message, and intent. Another important element to consider is how their language can affect...

Give a Little, Take a Little

by Lindsay Flanagan | | Blog, Fiction How-to, Nonfiction How-to, Writing Life (Finding Time, Writing Groups, Getting Organized, Etc.) | 2 Comments

Delivering—and Receiving—Negative Feedback in a Constructive Way by Sabine Berlin with Sandi Larsen Constructive feedback (often seen in the writer’s head as negative feedback) is a hard pill to swallow. Nobody wants to be told the story they’ve devoted hours, months,...

Setting the Scene, Part 2: Elements of a Setting

by Lindsay Flanagan | Nov 9

by Emilee Newman Bowles When you talk about a novel’s setting, place usually comes to mind first. But there’s a lot more to a setting than just where it happens. Review this list to see if any of these setting elements need more work in your story (and need to have...

How to Get on the New York Times Bestseller List

by Lindsay Flanagan | Oct 14

by Lindsay Flanagan and Angela Eschler with insights from best-selling author Heather B. Moore The New York Times Bestseller List. The very name sends shivers down your writer’s spine. You envision your books will one day be emblazoned with the badge of honor...

Setting the Scene, Part 1

by Lindsay Flanagan | Sep 20

Part 1: Seven Tips by Emilee Newman Bowles Your plot and characters are vital parts of your story, but they need a place to inhabit: the setting. Even fast-paced action novels need setting details so readers can imagine where the characters are. Here a few tips to...

Outlining versus “Pantsing”

by Lindsay Flanagan | Aug 22

by Lindsay Flanagan To outline or not to outline…that is the (much-debated) question. As a writer you may feel like you’re on team outliner (or plotter) or on team “pantser.” Maybe you haven’t decided which side to join. Or maybe you’ve joined one or the other but...