So You Think You Can Be A Journalist? It’s Not That Easy

Twice this week I was flummoxed, maybe even a little miffed, by things I heard about the craft of writing (specifically screenwriting) and journalism (specifically investigative journalism.) In the latter case, I received an email from Brad at MasterClass and this is what it said: “Bob Woodward Teaches Investigative Journalism.” In the email trailer, Woodward promises to teach students how to research,  gather information, interview people, and how to find the story and build the story. Wow! Continue reading “So You Think You Can Be A Journalist? It’s Not That Easy”

Why Literary Agents Asked For – Then Rejected – My Novel : One Author’s Story

You’ve finally typed “The End” on the fifth, seventh, tenth draft of your manuscript. It’s as good as you can make it. Now what? As most writers know, finding a literary agent is the necessary first step to getting a novel published traditionally. But finding an agent is as difficult, if not more so, than finding a publisher — as any literary agent will tell you.

This week, Mandi Bean, an author I met at the Algonkian Author-Mentor workshop earlier this year, contributes this guest post describing in superb detail exactly how she found four literary agents to ask for and read her full manuscript — and what she learned from the torturous process: Continue reading “Why Literary Agents Asked For – Then Rejected – My Novel : One Author’s Story”

How To Write A Screenplay In 42 Days : One Author’s Story

One of the best things that can happen to a writer is to have a novel or screenplay made into a movie or TV series. The next best thing –almost– is to hear your dialog (over which you laughed, cried, agonized, tore your hair out) performed by real-life actors. The latter is what happened recently to Doug , one of the writers I met at the Algonkian Author-Mentor workshop earlier this year. Here, in the very first guest post on my website, Doug Spak, who freelances as an advertising copywriter, writes about his experience: Continue reading “How To Write A Screenplay In 42 Days : One Author’s Story”

Writer’s Funk: What It Is — And Why It’s Good

Straight off, let me be clear: writer’s funk is not writer’s block. The latter, “writer’s block” is the “condition of being unable to think of what to write or how to proceed with your writing.” Writer’s funk, on the other hand is the situation where you have churned out your target number of words, had no trouble at all– well, hardly any trouble — getting them down on paper and then you read them, and re-read them — and then you want to vomit, and throw it all in the trash. Continue reading “Writer’s Funk: What It Is — And Why It’s Good”

Before You Hit The “Publish” Button: An Indie Author’s Checklist

Most indie authors grapple with the all-consuming issue of how to stand out from the crowd by creating memorable content and sufficient “buzz” for their self-published novels. Of one million books published a year, some 700,000 are self-published. Very few indie authors reach sales in the thousands, and fewer still break even after costs for giveaways and promotions and advertising are taken into account. A recent article by author Nicole Dieker  (on the website of publishing industry expert, Jane Friedman) attested to just how disheartening statistics for self-published authors can be. Continue reading “Before You Hit The “Publish” Button: An Indie Author’s Checklist”