Nothing elicits more fear and excitement for a writer than seeing a new email from an editor sitting in their inbox. These emails can bring us great news, bad news, or even something in between. Will it be a rejection? An acceptance? A restraining order requesting you never submit again? Just seeing the unread email … Continue reading If, When, and How to Respond to Emails from Editors
Like most bloggers in the universe, most of my posts don’t get many real comments. The average post seems to get one or two comments from humans (along with hundreds of spam comments). Maybe one in a dozen posts receives a handful of thoughtful responses. On a rare occasion, I’ll write something that resonates enough … Continue reading The complete guide to handling comments on your blog
Everyone knows the best way to start a novel or a story is with a killer opening line. You need something that hooks the reader and immediately sets whatever mood you’re trying to set. It should be your best sentence. In fact, what follows doesn’t really matter that much because you’ve done such a good … Continue reading How to write a great opening line that will make your readers salivate
I’m the fastest man in the world. No, I’m not Usain Bolt. And I’ve never been in the Olympics. And I’m not even the fastest man in the world anymore. But I once was: You see, “fastest man in the world” can take on all meanings. You could be the fastest at eating a pound … Continue reading Anyone Can Set a World Record. Here’s How.
If you’re a writer, you either know rejection really well or you’ve never sent out your work. And if you’ve never sent out your work, then you’re not really a writer yet. In my opinion, you become a writer the first time you’re rejected. Rejection shapes who you are as a writer and is the … Continue reading Do these 10 things every time you submit your writing and you’ll never be rejected again!
Submitting to a writing contest can be a great opportunity. With prizes often in the thousands plus publication, there’s the chance for big money and big exposure. Of course, the odds aren’t in your favor. Any writing contest with a big prize purse is getting hundreds, if not thousands of submissions. If you want to … Continue reading Everything You Need to Know Before Entering a Writing Contest
As we move into a new year, you’re probably honing in on some writing resolutions. But let’s do things a bit differently this year. Forget the stupid cliche shit like “I’m going to write every day” and “I’m going to finish and publish my novel.” Instead, let’s focus on things that will improve the literary … Continue reading 10 Writing Resolutions Actually Worth Keeping
It’s possibly the oldest piece of writerly advice: write every day. If you want to be a great writer, you need to write every day, right? Just like if you want to be good at anything, you need to do it every day. Except for when you don’t. Let’s explore the positives and negatives of … Continue reading Should You Write Every Day? Here’s What the Best Writers Do.
If you’re anything like me—and every other writer in the world—you’ve written your fair share of garbage. Stuff that makes you cringe. Stuff that no reputable or even halfway-reputable publication would even think about publishing. So let’s talk about what you’re supposed to do with all that junk. Wait, before we do that, let’s talk … Continue reading What to Do with All Your Bad Writing
Every blogger dreams of creating that one piece of content that goes viral. And almost every blogger has been so confident in a piece they’ve written that they were ready to celebrate their success before they even published it. But almost all of those bloggers came back the next day to find their post had … Continue reading How to Write a Blog Post that Will Generate Millions of Pageviews and Thousands of Shares
