So you want to write. What's stopping you? Most writers are halted at the outset by lack of knowledge. How about you?

People tell me they know what they want to write, but don't know how; or they know how to write, but they don't know what to say or how to say it; or they know how and what to write, but they don't know how to publish. Or they… Continue reading

Posted on November 9th, 2009 under Uncategorized. Tags: Business, Craft, Creative Non-Fiction, fiction, get published, Non-Fiction. Comments: None

What if we could as easily travel back in time as we travel now to other continents or into space?

I might visit my dad and have a nice long chat. Or maybe my grandparents.

Perhaps I'd see Hemingway in… Continue reading

Posted on August 2nd, 2009 under Art, Craft, Uncategorized. Tags: Art, Craft, fiction. Comments: None

I'd been writing fiction with intent to publish for more than fifteen years when I finally understood an imporatant difference between exposition and dramatic writing. Or at least, the nuance that had been eluding me up until that time. The nuance many lawyers miss when admonished to "show not tell." All writing seeks to convey clarity. But the methods vary. In this context, the nuance I'm referring to is the distinction between… Continue reading

Posted on June 28th, 2009 under Art, Craft. Tags: Art, Craft, Drama, fiction. Comments: None

Bryan Garner's recommendation of the Flowers Writing Paradigm would have significantly shortened my learning curve if I'd known about it. Maybe my recommendation now can serve you as Garner's would have served me. Dr. Betty S. Flowers, Garner reports, devised a shrewd way of dramatizing the process to minimize problems and maximize efficiency as well as effectiveness. The most important news here is that the process works. And not… Continue reading

Posted on June 7th, 2009 under Art, Craft. Tags: Art, Craft, fiction. Comments: None

As I mentioned, the business of publishing in all its forms is rapidly changing. The old model of write the book, find an agent, sell to a New York City publisher still works. But it's slower than a U.S. Supreme Court death penalty opinion. Unlike death penalty cases, though, where lawyers and defendants must simply slog through the process even if it takes 20 years, the internet now provides writers with… Continue reading

Posted on May 21st, 2009 under Business. Tags: Business, Craft, fiction, legal writing, nonfiction. Comments: None