How do you find writing ideas?
A month ago when I visited the barbershop, I needed ideas for the magazine I’d just begun editing. But that wasn’t my reason for visiting. I needed a haircut.
In less than an hour I had my haircut. But I also had a great idea for an article for the Model A Ford magazine. How did I find it? By listening.
As my barber was finishing, another longtime client … Continue reading
There are good reasons to summarize your novel.
Yes, an agent or an editor really expects you, in your book proposal, to compress your novel, no matter its length, to only three pages.
Impossible? Welcome to the world of professional novelists.
A clients whose middle-grade novel I’d edited asked me to check her proposal before she sent it to an agent. All was going well until I … Continue reading
Do you impose your own deadlines?
This past Saturday, I planned to work eight hours for my client. My estimate fell short. Eight hours put my goal in sight, but not yet reached. So after dinner, I worked another hour or two until I finished those pages.
Because of that, Monday I was free to start the next section — one step closer to the project’s completion.