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What Would An Agent Say About Your Memoir? |
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by Dan Gibson
Everyone has a story, or at least they'd like to believe so. And everyone who has put their fingers on a keyboard has probably thought of capturing the deep moments of their existence in a moving text sure to race up the bestseller list.
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Takeaway Value In Nonfiction |
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by Peter Gelfan
 The spark of passion that inspires a person to write a nonfiction book is often very different from the reason someone else might buy and read it. This gulf sometimes sabotages the author's efforts to sell a nonfiction project, and bridging it can lead to publication and success.
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Get Your Citation On |
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by Jane Ryder
 There are many challenges unique to nonfiction writing – walking the line between a tone that’s credibly serious and one that’s overly dry, organizing and arranging your material so it makes sense and reads well, making reference to real people without getting sued or alienating everyone you know – but one many writers overlook is the need for documentation.
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An Interview With Rob Stennett |
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by Dan Gibson
I met Rob Stennett at the International Christian Retail Show in Denver in the midst of his faux-protest across the street from the convention center. When you're at a Christian convention of any sort, a little disorder is always welcome, but when you see an author wearing an "I [HEART] THE RAPTURE" shirt surrounded by similarly attired protesters waving hand written signs at traffic passing by, it's a nice change of pace from the general dire seriousness of the event.
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How Do We Write About The Future Now That It's Here? |
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by Shannon Roberts
Science fiction, as a genre, has often struggled to be taken seriously. Oh, it’s garnered some respect, a few classics, and a bucketful of noteworthy authors, but how seriously are we expected to take a class of fiction that doesn’t even warrant its own section in most major bookstores?
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Yul Brynner’s Black Hat: Considering Good vs. Evil In Fantasy Fiction |
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by Shannon Roberts
 Bad guys and black hats are, in the classic American Western film, almost synonymous. Even if you haven’t seen many Westerns, you’ve probably absorbed this knowledge via cultural osmosis—I certainly had.
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Suggested Reading |
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 Suggested reading (and references):
William Strunk, Jr., and E. B. White, The Elements of Style (New York, The Macmillan Company, 1935).
William Zinsser, On Writing Well: An Informal Guide to Writing Nonfiction (New York, Harper & Row 1980).
Peter Elbow, Writing with Power: Techniques for Mastering the Writing Process (New York: Oxford University Press, 1981).
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Rediscovering Fantasy |
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(or, Why Magical Weaponry of Any Kind is a Death Sentence)
 by Shannon Roberts
The idea that there is a genre of novels called ‘fantasy’ is a lie.
Every bookstore worth its salt has such a section, generally stuffed to overflowing with your basic swords and sorcery. Those books and the genre they reside in exist solely because somewhere, someone decided that fantasy novels were, fundamentally, about fantasy. What’s missing here is the understanding that all great novels—fantasy or not--are about people.
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Evaluating Nonfiction: One Editor's Approach |
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by Peter Gelfan
Fiction lives or dies by the author’s storytelling and writing skills (and perseverance andsome luck). For nonfiction, then, one might assume that likewise, an interesting topic well elucidated will do the job. However, the publishing industry and readers regard nonfiction a bit differently.
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The Role of Mystery in Fiction |
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 by Peter Gelfan
Unlike nonfiction, fiction's motor doesn't run on information, but on its opposite: mystery. I’m not talking about mystery as a genre, but as the essential quality in all fiction that cultivates curiosity, stimulates the imagination, invites participation, and generally keeps readers reading. Every step of the reader's journey should be fraught with questions, not only about how the story turns out, but about character, motive, backstory, and—perhaps most importantly—what he or she would do in the hero's or villain's shoes.
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Keeping Track of Time in Fiction |
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by Rebecca Johns
Very few writers begin a novel or memoir thinking primarily about narrative time, the days and weeks and months that are going to comprise a story. Plot and character, the meat and potatoes of storytelling, are usually what get writers motivated to sit behind the keyboard or hover over the notepad. But in my experience as a writer and editor and teacher, I’ve noticed that when narratives struggle or fail, often the culprit is narrative time. If readers tell you your story moves too fast, or too slow, or express confusion over the order of events, then it might be time to take a look at how time is working in your story. Luckily, manipulating narrative time is also one of the easiest ways to control the pacing and direction of your stories. All it requires is a little attention to the details.
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How to Get Published in Literary Magazines |
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by Adriann Ranta
Getting published in a literary magazine is a great way to break onto the writing scene. It builds your writer’s platform, hones your writing style, and can even be a source of revenue. Getting started is always a little intimidating, so read on for some tips to query smart.
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