You’ve closed yourself in your office, taped the “Do Not Disturb” sign on the door, settled in the chair, and laid your hands on the keyboard but nothing comes.
You look around the room, then back to the computer screen. Little niggling thoughts creeping in. Did I shut the coffee pot off? Did I just hear the phone ring?
Something’s off but you don’t know what. Continue reading “Fill Your Well: Maintaining Your Writer Self”
Just yesterday I heard a word I hadn’t heard or seen used for years. The word is Brinkmanship. My definition for it (from the creative writing perspective) is “to bring Readers to the BRINK of solving the mystery, then strategically pulling them away from…
ReadMore
Just yesterday I heard a word I hadn’t heard or seen used for years. The word is Brinkmanship. My definition for it (from the creative writing perspective) is “to bring Readers to the BRINK of solving the mystery, then strategically pulling them away from that answer only to maneuver them onto another path.” When writers hone this skill they produce wonderful adventures that not only challenge our logical thinking abilities but satisfy the soul. Much like the tapestry illustration shown here, the various color hues (characters) and textures (plot/angles) intrigue us and bring us joy.
Agatha Christie is one of the best and most read novelists. She instinctively knew how to weave the threads of Intrigue, Suspense and Mystery into puzzle-patterns creating beautiful whodunits that tantalize us, frustrate us and bring us to the brink of giving up before they allow…
View original post 525 more words
So you’ve written a manuscript, thus the ‘meat’ of your book is complete. However, you want to happily sandwich that meat between what we call ‘front matter’ and ‘back matter.’ Front matter includes things like the half-title, the title page, the copyright page, a dedication, acknowledgements, a table of contents, and perhaps other things such as an epigraph, a preface, an introduction, or a prologue. The back matter can include an index, an appendix, and other material that doesn’t belong in the meat of the book, but that you’d like to include to feel you have a complete book.
First, let’s break down what front and back matter should include and how to make them look professional and appropriate. We’ll begin by tackling the different types of front matter you can choose to include.
View original post 828 more words
When self-publishing, one of the aesthetic decisions you’ll have to make is whether or not to publish your book as a hard or soft cover. The decision is one that will mainly affect your readers, so when exploring the pros and cons of this decision, we will be considering the experience and opinions of your potential readers.
ReadMore
When self-publishing, one of the aesthetic decisions you’ll have to make is whether or not to publish your book as a hard or soft cover. The decision is one that will mainly affect your readers, so when exploring the pros and cons of this decision, we will be considering the experience and opinions of your potential readers.
View original post 374 more words
springfieldwritersguild.org 