>Tips for Writers: Listen

> You carry a pen and paper with you at all times, don’t you? That’s okay. I forget sometimes, too. But I often kick…

>Tips for Writers: Conferences

> Last week, a commenter asked what my opinion of writers conferences was and whether I favored one over another, so that will be…

>Tips for Writers: It’s Your Vision

> Only the writer knows what she is trying to do with her story. It’s unquestionably useful to get the reaction of readers in…

>Tips for Writers: Meet-up

> Everyone knows that writing is a solitary profession. Sometimes too solitary. We sit at our desks and write. We talk to the computer….

>Tips for Writers: Skip the boring parts

> Elmore Leonard, maybe more than most writers, is full of pithy tips. (See this list.) I can’t say I always agree with him,…

>Tips for Writers: Don’t Just Revise–Retype

> Most writers understand that the name of the game is revision. Writers don’t so much write as they do revise what they’ve already…

>Tips for Writers: Hit the ground running

> Earlier this week, Fictionaut ran a short interview with me in which I mentioned an article by Sven Birkerts about the beginnings of…

>Tips for Writers: To be or not to be

> The verb “to be” is undeniably handy. We couldn’t be without it. (Heh.) Unfortunately, “to be” lacks motion. For forward momentum in writing,…

>Tips for Writers: Learn Anglo-Saxon

> You may have heard—or maybe you haven’t—that given a choice, a writer should choose an Anglo-Saxon word over one with Latin roots. Or…

>Tips for Writers: Invest in Style

> Tips for Writers: Invest in Style And I’m not talking fashion here (although take a look at the article in The Atlantic about…