About This Writing Stuff...

This week, other than a quick follow-up by Joe Konrath, I'm avoiding any discussion of the ongoing Amazon-Hachette war.  Instead, permit me to turn your attention to David Gaughran, one of the many valiant writers crusading against the unsavory scam artists, Author Solutions.

Beyond that, I prefer to spend most of this blog post focusing on craft.  How should you avoid opening your novel?  Let Ramona DeFelice Long count the ways.  Kristen Lamb gives us the short and skinny on log lines.  Jordan Dane provides serious advice about humor while Jami Gold encourages us to write with all eleven senses (yes, you read that correctly, eleven).    From The Write Practice, we get tips on writing under duress and go back to basics with sentence structure.  Enjoy!


Twelve Terrible Ways to Open a Novel by Ramona DeFelice Long

The Case Against Author Solutions Part 1: The Numbers by David Gaughran

I Understand and Sympathize by Joe Konrath

Expand Our Senses and Improve Our Descriptions by Jami Gold

How to Tell if Your Story is On Target--What is Your Book About in One Sentence? by Kristen Lamb

Five Ways to Stand Out with Humor in Your Writing by Jordan Dane

How To Write Through Duress by Birgitte Rasine

Why Your Writing Sounds Weird (And What You Can Do About It) by Joe Bunting