by Brad Whittington (Originally published 6/6/12) Many temptations lie in wait for the novelist. One of the more insidious is the tangent. I recently read two detective novels by different authors that went on at length on topics that were … Continue reading
Category Archives: Blog
by Tosh McIntosh (Originally published 6/26/12) If you’re like most writers, you probably have one or more novels sitting on a literal or virtual shelf gathering dust. They may be calling to you, begging for attention, but you’ve been so … Continue reading
by Tosh McIntosh (Originally published on 11/18/12) On Saturday, November 17, 2012, a panel of five AIW members attended the second meeting of the Lake Travis Fiction Writers (LTFW) to present “How to Publish Your Own Novel.” Kathy Clark Wernly, … Continue reading
by Brad Whittington (Originally published 7/6/12) If a young writer can refrain from writing, he shouldn’t hesitate to do so. -Andre Gide If one feels one could live without writing, then one shouldn’t write at all. – Rainer Maria Rilke … Continue reading
by Tosh McIntosh (Originally published 5/26/12) In this age of the Internet, writers have created a communications network that delivers their words to other writers at the speed of light. And since most writers think of themselves as having something … Continue reading
by Brad Whittington (originally published 8/6/12) You see it all the time. A writer hunkers in a bunker for months or years cranking out a novel, publishes it, sees the dismal sales numbers, and panics. She hears that she needs … Continue reading
by Tosh McIntosh (Originally published 2/19/12) As so well documented in Dean Wesley Smith’s Think Like a Publisher, the decision to go indie requires an up-front, unwavering dedication to the practical aspects of getting a book to market. This post … Continue reading
by Brad Whittington (Originally published 9/6/12) Some writers love deadlines, some hate them. Many find that they are more productive when writing under a deadline. A traditionally published writer has a deadline imposed by someone else. Going indie means taking … Continue reading
by Tosh McIntosh (Originally published 11/26/12) On Saturday, November 17, 2012, five AIW members attended the second meeting of the brand new Lake Travis Fiction Writers and presented an overview of four distinct paths to becoming an indie author. The … Continue reading
by Brad Whittington (Originally published 10/6/12) In most modern novels, the main character undergoes some sort of transformation or enlightenment, which we call the character arc. Huckleberry renounces slavery, for example. There are exceptions. In farcical novels (P.G. Wodehouse, Carl … Continue reading