Please indulge this word-count newbie for just a few moments. What should I use to determine word count? Is Microsoft Word’s word counter a good measure? Here’s why I ask: I’ve been told manuscript pages usually contain about 250 words per page. But I’ve got one-inch margins all around, and when I highlight a page […]
It’s Friday already? Here’s what I’ve got for you this week: * Tips from the Huffington Post about how to actually get some writing done. * A fabulous weekly feature from Jane Friedman about the best tweets for writers. It’s similar to this post, but includes only Twitter messages. It’s also a great way to […]
Memoir includes elements of both nonfiction and fiction, as I’ve discussed before on this blog. While literary agent Miss Snark calls it a pesky category buster, until today I was ready to call it the forgotten genre. Although literary agents seem eager to represent memoir, most don’t specifically address the genre or its submission guidelines […]
I hate word counts. The numbers mean nothing to me — How much is 10,000 words, anyway? It’s like describing the cost of dinner in Japanese yen, a currency I don’t understand. Word count is so useless to this newspaper journalist that when a magazine editor assigns one to my story, I immediately translate it […]
While working on my travel memoir this weekend, I wrote this paragraph: He softly kissed the corner of my mouth, then my jawline, then inched toward my ear, where he began whispering sweet nothings. At least, I assumed they were sweet nothings – his French words weren’t clear enough for me to understand. Then I […]
When I ran the Freihofer’s Race for Women six years ago, I had just returned from my first trip to Africa. I had lived with a polygamous family in Cameroon and developed friendships with the four co-wives. The women had inspired me, showing both physical and spiritual strength when they had so little of everything […]
Happy Friday! This week, amidst family obligations and wrapping up my coaching job, I managed to write a slew of pages, meet with an ever-so-helpful critique group and pick up a few freelancing gigs. Along the way, I collected links for every step of the writing and publishing process: * Before writing your book, follow […]
When I tell friends I’m writing a book instead of working full time, they often inquire, “What do you do about health insurance?” Usually part of the reason they bother to ask is because they, too, have thought about leaving their job to pursue a bucket-list project. And most people who leave full-time employment are […]
My home office is full of pieces of art from Africa: a beaded wire bowl made in South Africa, a huge raffia sculpture of a baobab tree from Madagascar, a smooth wooden bowl created in Cameroon, and a beautiful poster of homemade Malagasy paper pressed with flowers. But my favorite is a wall-sized colorful batik […]
Whenever I have a question about publishing, I turn to Julie Kraut. She entertains all my idiotic newbie inquiries, cracks me up with her sense of humor, and still manages to make it seem like she’s not laughing at me. Julie: I'm 26! This age defying moisturizer isn't working at all, is it? Tell us […]