Anne R. Allen's Blog, page 37
March 4, 2018
10 Tips for Finding Memorable Character Names for your Fiction
Peggy Cass as “Agnes Gooch,” a memorable character name by Anne R. Allen “Agnes Gooch,” “Mr. McCawber,” “Albus Dumbledore”: memorable names of memorable characters. How can writers come up with character names that readers will never forget? In his painfully funny 2006 book, Famous Writing School, a Novel, Stephen Carter’s writing teacher-protagonist advises his students to […]
The post appeared first on Anne R. Allen's Blog... with Ruth Harris.
February 25, 2018
PLOT HOLES AND POT HOLES: 8 COMMON MISTAKES READERS HATE—AND HOW TO FIX THEM
Beware plot and pot holes in your fiction! by Ruth Harris We all come face to face with them, those pesky glitches, oopsies, OMGs and WTFs that ruin a story, turn a reader off, guarantee a slew of one-star reviews—and kill sales. Beta readers will often point them out. Editors are professional fixers, always on […]
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February 18, 2018
Blogging isn’t Dead: 8 Reasons to Start an Author Blog
An Author Blog is still one of the best ways to build platform By Anne R. Allen If you tell your non-writing friends you’re thinking of starting an author blog, you’ll probably hear some noise about how blogging is “totally over.” People have been pronouncing the demise of blogging for a decade. Google “blogging is […]
The post Blogging isn’t Dead: 8 Reasons to Start an Author Blog appeared first on Anne R. Allen's Blog... with Ruth Harris.
February 11, 2018
Top Ten Peeves of Creative Writing Teachers
A creative writing teacher has to deal with a lot. By Melodie Campbell It all started in 1992. I’d won a couple of crime fiction awards, and the local college came calling. Did I want to come on faculty and teach in the writing program? Hell, yes! (Pass the scotch.) Over the years, I continued […]
The post Top Ten Peeves of Creative Writing Teachers appeared first on Anne R. Allen's Blog... with Ruth Harris.
February 4, 2018
Do Your Characters Talk too Much? When to Use Indirect Dialogue
…and How to Solve 9 Common Dialogue Problems. by Anne R. Allen I’ve been looking over some of my much-rejected early work and discovered my old stories have way too much dialogue. This is something I see in a lot of newbie fiction. I remember a guy who came into the bookstore where I […]
The post Do Your Characters Talk too Much? When to Use Indirect Dialogue appeared first on Anne R. Allen's Blog... with Ruth Harris.
January 28, 2018
9 Powerful Secrets That Will Supercharge Your Fiction
Secrets are the engine that keep a story moving forward. by Ruth Harris Shhh! Secrets. Everyone has them. Every book must have at least one because secrets are the jet-powered engine that propels fiction forward. Ever notice how many blurbs in the daily BookBub email include the word secret? Secrets provide motivation, plot, character, even a setting (a […]
The post 9 Powerful Secrets That Will Supercharge Your Fiction appeared first on Anne R. Allen's Blog... with Ruth Harris.
January 21, 2018
Agent Laurie McLean’s Crystal Ball: Publishing Predictions for 2018
Agent Laurie McLean gives her publishing predictions for 2018. By Laurie McLean, Partner, Fuse Literary My crystal ball is telling me that not a lot in the publishing industry is going to change from 2017 to 2018. I think publishing was mesmerized by Washington politics in 2017 and were slow to make any forward progress […]
The post Agent Laurie McLean’s Crystal Ball: Publishing Predictions for 2018 appeared first on Anne R. Allen's Blog... with Ruth Harris.
January 14, 2018
The One Thing That Will Kill Book Sales Dead—And 10 Ways to Avoid it.
Don’t kill book sales dead with a less than enticing “look inside” sample. by Anne R. Allen I never have as much time to read as I think I will, and my trusty old Kindle is pretty loaded up. So I’m a picky book-buyer. Unfortunately, there are a lot of readers like me out here, […]
The post The One Thing That Will Kill Book Sales Dead—And 10 Ways to Avoid it. appeared first on Anne R. Allen's Blog... with Ruth Harris.
January 7, 2018
8 Qualities That Are More Important than Talent for Writing Success
Even if you have the writing talent of Lord Byron, you need these things. by Anne R. Allen I understand why new writers want to be reassured they have writing talent. They don’t want to embark on the long road to a writing career if they don’t have the chops. So I have sympathy with […]
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December 31, 2017
How to Nail that Book in 2018!
Ruth and Anne wish you all a very happy and prosperous 2018. As Anne wrote earlier this month, you run into a lot of bogus information about writing in the Internet age. Other advice you run into can be helpful…but be wary of taking it all as gospel. Remember that rigid rules usually lead to […]
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