1 Writing fiction in the digital age means dealing with the realities of the attention economy. Content is everywhere. Information is everywhere. Attention, as Michael H Goldfaber points out in WIRED magazine remains limited. There are only so many minds per capita, and each mind pays attention to one thing at a time (just like…
1 I once had an argument with my ex-husband (okay, we had many arguments, but that’s not the point) about the future of traditional publishing: within five to ten years, he declared airily, print publishing would cease to exist. No way, said I, because people still like and need the physical, the tangible. No matter…
1 I buy books like a maniac. For readers like me, a Kindle makes economic sense. In theory. In actual practice, downloading books onto my Kindle instead of buying the more expensive, book-object versions hasn’t saved me any money. It just means I can download more books. And I do. I can read about a…
Part One is here 1. READ. Reading is so non-negotiable that I wrote what is practically a manifesto about this– and I’m not talking casual, three-books-a-year reading, or even three books a month. John D MacDonald put the standard at three books a week (tip: it helps to get rid of your TV set). Stephen…
You might love or hate Malcolm Gladwell, but since his book OUTLIERS came out the idea of “10,000 hours” has entered mainstream culture. Gladwell argues: When we look at any kind of cognitively complex field — for example, playing chess, writing fiction or being a neurosurgeon — we find that you are unlikely to master…
There’s an article in the latest issue of Writer’s Digest that takes you through the “7 steps of starting an author blog”. It’s a helpful article and worth reading. The problem with these articles aimed at writers — particularly fiction writers — particularly unpublished fiction writers who don’t have a following beyond their relatives (and…
1 I believe in outlines. Except when I don’t. I believe in daily word quotas. Except when I don’t. I believe in encountering the work, which an outline can prevent you from doing. 2 Last week I was struggling with a scene in my novel-in-progress (THE DECADENTS). I had it in outline and knew what…
My agent once told me about a manuscript she was considering for representation. She was enjoying it. She thought it well-written. But when she reached the final page, she knew she would reject it. “It was too muddled at the center,” she said. “I still didn’t know what the book was about.” Which reminded me…
One of the members of my writing workshop had a major breakthrough. “She’s writing at a publishable level,” I said (when someone’s work is being critiqued, we discuss it as if she’s not there). Rachel, the workshop leader, nodded and agreed and looked visibly moved: she’s been working with this woman for a while now…
1 One of my favorite blogs to follow is socialmedia rockstar Chris Brogan’s. So when Chris blogged about a book he loved (and by a YA author I have much respect for), it was like two wires crossing to spark off a deep, personal pleasure in my own little virtual universe. I found Chris’s post…
