Know and avoid the seven most common mistakes of memoir writing.
Read MoreThe Lowdown on Appendixes/ Appendices
Sometimes nonfiction authors get confused about appendices: what they are, how to do them, when they are needed … and how to spell them! An appendix is supplementary material (usually an article, form, or list) that an author adds to the back of the book. It can be anything you want your readers to …
Read MoreWhy Word Count Matters
One mistake aspiring novelists and memoir writers often make is disregarding the importance of word count. Unreasonable though it may seem, there's an expected, established word count for a novel or memoir, especially for first-time authors. If you don't color within the lines when it comes to the length of your manuscript, most agents will write you off as an ... Read More
Horror or Thriller? Don’t Muddle the Genres
The emotional territory of a thriller is courage. Horror, by contrast, stakes its claim in the emotional territory of fear. The two genres, correctly written, are as different as day and night …
Read MoreThrillers Worth Your Time: Lee Child’s ‘Jack Reacher’ Series
What is it about Lee Child’s plots that makes his thrillers so much better than most? I think it’s that genuine, complicated problem to work out, that each of his stories promises. Compare that to other thrillers that try to disguise a thin plot with cheap tricks to keep you guessing, such as jerking the reader backward and forward in time for no good reason, or withholding important facts when narrating a scene, in hopes of creating “mystery” …
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