Each time I teach “Structuring a Novel with Good Bones,” I learn again how difficult it is to condense the process into six hours and how exhilarating it is to step back and examine the entire process. At day’s end, it seemed as though I’d climbed a mountain where (for a day) I could look … Read more
Recently, a thread in an online writer’s community popped up, beginning with someone (who hadn’t begun querying) asking why folks sent query letters to so many agents. Did they have that many “dream agents? Why not send to just one or two top choices? And, really, how long does it take? Answers flew in—achingly honest … Read more
I played with the first line, “Everyone hates a fat woman,” for a decade (and published four other novels) before writing Waisted. The scale-obsessed women screamed in my head, but I kept the words locked away. Because writing it meant facing myself. Writ honest, the novel would have to include tales of self-loathing, food needs so intense … Read more
Unless it’s in service to a story, I avoid deep thought. But avoidance only stretches so far; when it became time to write a think piece on why I wrote that particular book (hiding inside a marriage, traumatic brain injuries, coma, emotional abuse, rageful words—stop me!), the murky connective tissues of linking why I write any novel, in particular, confronted … Read more
That perfect first line. How we chase it, scrambling phrases and our brains, seeking magic words to pop open our stories like magic keys. ( Sometimes, I want to create an entire book when a great beginning sentence pops into my head.) “There’s one thing I’m sure about. An opening line should invite the reader … Read more