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"Top Ten Worst Pieces of Writing Advice" (and more)
   by Michael NeffWithout Proper Advice Though, No PublicationIf you ever run or attend writer events, you will never cease to hear utterances of bad writing advice, the popular kind that circulates...
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Top Worst "Worst Writer Advice" Advice - Maxims That Fall Short
It's like acid rain! It never ceases to scar, harm the environment, and ruin vacations. We're talking about bad writer advice, of course (btw, see our first article on this subject). While perusing...
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Brilliant Fiction Narrative in Four Stages
From Drab or Quiet to Can't Put It Down.  What's one of the best ways to ensure a publishing contract? Master the art of writing fiction narrative, of course. But what does that mean, and are you sure...
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IMPORTANT: Coverage Checklist for Aspiring Authors
Note, MARKET VALUE FIRST...Listed below are a summation of "coverage" checkpoints utilized by various screenplay and novel ms readers in both Hollywood and New York. Not every publisher intern or...
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Settings Are 60% - Maximize Opportunity
When considering your novel, whether taking place in a contemporary urban world or on a distant magical planet in Andromeda, you must first sketch the best overall setting and sub-settings for your...
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Ruthless F. Scott on "Darling Killing"
When it comes to rewriting, a writer must make hard choices.Fitzgerald warned us writers about the danger of becoming way too attached to something you’ve written. "Keep an objective eye on the whole...
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Best 10 Steps for Starting the Novel - All Genres
As you explore the nooks and literary crannies of WE, you'll find considerable words devoted to warning you away from foolish and terrible advice. But what about professional, tested, and proven...
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What the Classics Teach us About Exposition
The literary science of accomplishing exposition is set in stone. Â The inexperienced writer dumps it like rocky weights on the reader's head (or not at all).The experienced author delivers at the right...
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OMG! Offended Writer Syndrome!
Have you ever been in writer workshops and reacted to criticism of your writing or story by demanding the other writer defend their decision in such detail that it served your purpose of making certain...
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Loglines and Hooks With Core Wounds
HOOK OR LOG WITH CORE WOUND AND CONFLICTYour hook line (also known as logline) is your first chance to get a New York or Hollywood professional interested in your novel. It can be utilized in your...
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Writer Ego and the Imaginary Bob
You begin your first novel with equal parts ignorance and false optimism.Many months, or even years later, you finally learn the enormity of your mistakes. Those popular writer magazines and the...
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Aspiring Authors and the Epiphany Light
A WATERSHED EVENT FOR SERIOUS WRITERSWhatever the stage of your project or writing life, know that all writers, if they desire to become commercially published, must see and enter the Epiphany Light....
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The Author Dawn - Rise and Blink
What should be percolating in the aborning author's mind from the very start?Let's Talk About PassionA few basic questions first. Why are you writing a novel? For reasons of ambition, ego? Well, why...
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The Six Act Two-Goal Novel
What makes for good drama is a constant. To begin, we combine Siegal's "nine act structure - two goal" screenplay (very much like the Syd Field three act except that the "reversal" from Field's...
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Writing Novel Scenes A to Z - Drama, Sex, and Sass
So now you're writing the novel, or rewriting it, or preparing to? There is so much to consider your head has exploded and now you're groping for the parts. Nevertheless, we strongly recommend in this...
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"High Concept"? Sufficiently Unique? - Write a Tale That Might Actually Sell?
Aspire to be a best selling genre author? So what's your high concept?... If you fail to grasp the vital importance of this second question, you will fail to conceive much less write a publishable...
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Experiments in High Impact Narrative - Jerzy, Ralph, Italo, and Graves
Once more, the classics speak to us.What is one of the primary reasons novels get rejected? The narrative is too passive. It ultimately falls flat, quiet and dull. Details are insufficient, metaphors...
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A Great Damp Loaf of Description - Experiments in Fictional Imagery
Prepared for appropriate frustration and tapped out fingers? Using our favorite "stand on the shoulders of the classics" approach, we're going to examine the role of detailed character description when...
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Labors, Sins, and Six Acts - Official WE Genre Novel Writing Guide
Like it says...You will discover here a series of frank, scholarly, researchable, and accurate guides and tips regarding the writing and development of the commercial genre novel, as well as the...
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The Enlightenment of Tragedy - Dramatic Art Primer
Before the novel, there was drama...Ancient dramatists understood the requirements of a good tale, one in which willful human beings engaged in major conflict, the goal being to possess or achieve...
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Classic Authors and Irritants of Minor Complication
The following are classic examples of minor complications occurring in the novel.And what do we mean by that? The basic definition: whatever "complicates" the story, but not always existing in strong...
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Dialogue - Never a Gratuitous Word or Boring Moment
For starters... Let's place this in a context rarely mentioned elsewhere. At such time dialogue becomes difficult or perplexing for writers to produce, it's usually because they have failed on some...
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How Not to Get Blacklisted by the Publishing Business
By Chris StewartAs someone who organizes readings and a large literary arts festival with workshops, author appearances, and exhibitors, I have developed a list of writers who I will not work with...
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Thoughts on Pitching a Memoir to New York - A True Story
Several times a year I'll receive an email from a memoir writer wanting to know if attending one of our writer events is worth it. The answer is always a mixed bag depending on several factors;...
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The Pub Board - Your Best Friend and Worst Enemy
So your agent has finally found a sympathetic editor for your wondrously impatient manuscript?And they work at a major publishing house, imprint, or press. Now you think you're in tight? Whooo! Think...
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