AuthorsTalk: Why I Plot

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AuthorsTalkHow I Stopped Pantsing, Started Plotting, and Wrote Four Novels in a Year

by Amy Patrick

 

I completed my first novel in 2010, pantsing my way from Chapter One through The End. When I sat down to write each night, I had no idea what was going to happen next. It was exciting and fun. It took me six months of writing three hours a night, five nights a week to finish that book, a YA fantasy that became a 2013 RWA Golden Heart finalist. That’s the good news.

 

 

The bad news? I had to rewrite that book several times over the course of two years before it was anywhere near good. Some of it was because it was my first book. Mostly it was because I knew nothing about story structure beyond what I’d gained through osmosis from voracious reading. And I didn’t know if I could ever repeat the process.

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AuthorsTalk: Writing with Tropes

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AuthorsTalk

Writing with Tropes

by Sara Jane Stone

 

            Late one night, while rocking my daughter to sleep, I read an article about a young woman who’d served in the Army and returned home with a burning desire to embrace life.  The article stuck with me, and idea for a character formed—Georgia Trulane, the first heroine in the FULL EXPOSURE: Book One: Independence Falls.  I wanted to write about Georgia, but I didn’t have a story.  Yet. Continue reading →

AuthorsTalk: When edits turn into a re-write.

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AuthorsTalk

 

When edits turn into a re-write.

By Alexia Adams

 

I don’t think there are many authors who enjoy the editing process. You submit a book that a publisher loves enough to acquire and then they ask you to change it, substantially sometimes. You’ve already written the best book you could, so what do you do? Continue reading →

AuthorsTalk: Writing Space

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AuthorsTalk

 

My Writing Work Space

by Amalia Dillin

 

When writers talk about their work space, most of the time, they talk about their desks, their offices, their computers and their bookshelves. Do they keep these areas tidy and neat, or are they messy? What do they keep in that space for inspiration? Et cetera, et cetera. And that’s entirely reasonable. Writers need a space to sit and write, ultimately, and usually a room and space set apart from the rest of one’s daily life is conducive to productivity. But for me, the set up is a little bit different.

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AuthorsTalk: Making the decision to go with a publisher

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AuthorsTalk

Why I Decided To Sign With A Publisher

by Stacey Nash

 

I’m aware that this is a somewhat controversial topic, but please… read on. I want to shed light on what it’s like to be published by a digital imprint at one of the big publishers.

 

Today’s publishing options are far more varied than they were ten years ago. Authors are no longer barred from entering the world of publishing by traditional gatekeepers. If you don’t have an agent, doesn’t matter. If you aren’t picked up by a publisher, who cares: Many people don’t even entertain the idea of submitting to publishers anyway. They want the control and freedom that self publishing allows. And as an author signed with a big publisher, I’m often asked but why? Why would you sign away your rights and a portion of your royalties when you could keep that for yourself? Continue reading →