The most productive writers I’ve known develop skills and techniques that carry them through episodes of writer’s block, procrastination, and loss of focus. Writing is an art, a craft and a discipline. It takes a lot of energy and creativity to work all alone for the most part, to overcome bumps in … [Read more...]
The blog for writers
The Book Deal
George Lucas’s blockbuster books: Q&A with the editor
What’s it like for a writer to work at the elbow of legendary filmmaker George Lucas? For the answer, I turned to my son Jonathan, an executive editor and writer at LucasBooks. He's worked closely with the boss and other staff for the past seven years to write and produce dozens of titles related … [Read more...]
Ask the editor: 6 steps to writing a memoir
Q : I have so much material for my memoir. How do I sort out what to include and what to leave out? A : This is the key problem a writer faces when constructing a non-fiction memoir. Here are six specific steps to consider when making your decisions: 1. First, skip to the end Every memoir … [Read more...]
Choosing a title for your book
Editors pray for the perfect book title: a tight high-concept combination of words that crystallizes the content and intention of the work. A title so scintillating and irresistible that millions of readers want to run out and buy this book immediately. Eureka! It happens. Think of Chicken Soup … [Read more...]
Ask the editor: Constructing the “narrative arc”
Q:My writers group thinks I need to strengthen the narrative arc in my novel. How can I do that? A:The “narrative arc” is a fancy way of saying that every story needs to have a beginning, middle, and end. Whether you’re writing fiction or nonfiction, you need an act one, act two, act three. Take … [Read more...]
Clay Felker’s impact on a young book editor
I’m among the publishing veterans who admired and benefited from the creativity and courage of Clay Felker, who died this week at the age of 82. This celebrated and deeply influential editor made a big difference at the start of my own career when he assigned his young star reporter Tom Wolfe to … [Read more...]
How Hunter S. Thompson beat back his writer’s block
Writers sometimes suffer bouts of major paralysis. They want to write, are desperate to get down something great, but it's just not coming easily, in fact not at all. No one had a worse case of writer's block than Hunter S. Thompson. After the presidential election of November, 1972, his … [Read more...]
Tips for creating three-dimensional characters
A developmental editor can help a writer find ways to add greater depth and stronger identity to characters in a story. One approach combines two characters into one more complex and diverse individual, or instead, may split apart one character into two separate individuals, each … [Read more...]
Secrets of writing good dialogue
Writers I work with occasionally forget about dialogue entirely, summarizing the action in a stilted “told to” style, while others write quote after quote, in a voice that sounds all the same, often coincidentally like the author’s own. I have a few tips for all such folks: Read out loud and … [Read more...]
Hidden agendas: primary sources & writing biography
I was interviewed last week for yet another book about the early days of Rolling Stone Magazine. This marks the latest of nearly a dozen long interviews over the years as a primary source for writers on the founding and initial development of what was then a startup with grandiose ambitions, … [Read more...]
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