Copywriter & ghostwriter: when you need help to sell something, or to write a book.
It’s hardly a secret that I love writing and selling short stories and novellas, so I get questions. The most common question: can you really make an income writing short fiction? For many authors, “fiction” means novels. I understand. For years, until I became a copywriter and stepped out of my author bubble, I assumed that real writers wrote novels. Somehow … Read more
Bored? When you’re writing fiction, it’s easy to lose inspiration. You’re not in the mood to write. Worse, you feel like trashing your current novel and forgetting all about fiction forever. You need fresh ideas. Writing fiction: find ideas Ideas are everywhere. In this post, Public Domain & Self-Publishing: Be Like Disney, Craft A Bestseller, we looked at gaining inspiration … Read more
You’re writing fiction, but you’re a new author, and you’re disappointed with your results. Two strategies will help: Developing suspense: it’s essential, in the age of TikTok. Control: write in scenes, and edit. New authors tend to overwhelm their plot with backstory; that is, everything that happened before the story starts. Readers don’t care about that. They want entertainment. As … Read more
Readers want what they want, so when you’re writing fiction, it’s easy to make mistakes which annoy readers. That said, don’t despair. You can fix most mistakes easily. Writing fiction: the biggest mistake Before we look at common errors, let’s look at the biggest one: failing to capitalize on success. Sadly this is horribly common. One of my students wrote … Read more
Many new writers want to turn their writing into a profitable side hustle. Freelancers create content, blog, produce social media calendars, and much more. What about fiction? For hundreds of thousands of authors, writing fiction pays. For some, it pays exceedingly well; this means that they need help. A former student, who’s now a professional blogger, asked me: “as a … Read more