Tag Archives: writing tips

“No offense, but…”: The book review every writer is afraid they will get

All this talk on various blogs about whether or not writers should be posting negative book reviews has got me thinking about my own fears as a writer. It’s so scary putting your work out there. What if people hate … Continue reading

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How to Watch TV Like a Novelist Part Three: Details, details

We’ve talked about characters and plot. Now for the final part of this series: details. When trying to make a scene more realistic, directors rely on props and costumes. The right details can totally make a scene. Whenever I get … Continue reading

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Medical fiction question #1: The Disorderly Orderly

I have gotten a great response from my guest post over at the GLA blog about writing a hospital scene. A few of the questions have just been way too specific for me to answer, but this past week I … Continue reading

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How to Watch TV Like a Novelist Part Two: Questioning the Plot

All right, so last time we talked about characters. Today, let’s discuss plot. Here are some questions to ask yourself when watching TV to inform your own writing: 1) Why did they choose to end the scene there? (And where … Continue reading

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How to Watch TV Like a Novelist Part One–4 Questions About Characters

I like to watch TV. Everyone knows this. (I even blog about it.) Sometimes I have an excuse to watch, like I had a hard day, or someone is over and wants to watch something with me. But sometimes I … Continue reading

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Have Medical Questions about Your Novel? Email me!

I’ve gotten a bunch of emails about my “How to Write a Hospital Scene” guest post from writers curious about how to fix their manuscripts. I’m working on a followup blog post, but until then–got a medical fiction question? Email … Continue reading

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How to write a hospital scene–Guest post at GLA

Head over to  the GLA blog to check out my guest post called “How to Write a Hospital Scene in Your Novel“! Let me know what you think.

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Tips from TV: 3 Writing Lessons from the Olympics

This year’s winter olympics was fun to watch, wasn’t it? The drama, the excitement, the heartbreak.  Hearing the athletes’ stories was inspiring and compelling. And while I was watching, I couldn’t help but think that as a writer, I could … Continue reading

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10 Rules for Writing Fiction

My twitter followers will have seen this link already to writing rules from famous authors, but I just can’t help sharing some of my favorites: From Margaret Atwood: “7 You most likely need a thesaurus, a rudimentary grammar book, and … Continue reading

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Writing Tips from TV: Lessons from Project Runway

I love Project Runway. Drama + high fashion + catty fighting = Awesome. But probably the most fun part about this show is watching creative minds at work. But what lessons can a writer take away from this show? #1) … Continue reading

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