It’s almost impossible to overstate the importance of a great story opening for your book. An agent will decide whether or not to request more of your manuscript based on those first pages. Your friends and acquaintances will decide whether or not to finish it or put it down (and hope you don’t ask if…
I worked on a literary magazine for a good number of years and I learned a lot about what makes for good printed content. I also learned a lot about why even good writing gets rejected. It’s hard for us to see the flaws and problems in our own work—it’s hard for me and it’s…
Writer and instructor Matthew Salesses said, “The best ‘advice’ I’ve ever heard on revision was from the wonderful teacher and writer Margot Livesey. It was something like this: if you are bored, it’s not because you’ve read that section so many times, it’s because it’s boring.” Welp. I suppose it’s best to leave our delusions…
Whenever the world feels particularly cruel, when the news cycle is at its harshest, people often turn to novels for comfort or escape. It’s not a bad way to show yourself some kindness. Many years ago I suffered an early miscarriage and stayed in bed for days reading The Chronicles of Narnia. Although I’m a…
If you want to snag the attention of an agent, your book’s concept needs to be irresistible. But what’s going to buoy your book up above the other great concepts in the submission pile is the quality of your writing. And I don’t just mean polished writing. I mean writing that is unique and captivating….