Don’t let your supporting characters get lost in the crowd. Photo: sonstroem via Visual hunt / CC BY
Have you thought of making the supporting characters in your novel the stars of their own lives? It’s the key to developing more interesting secondary characters, according to a Penguin Random House editor. (more…)
Posted by cindyfazzi on October 18, 2017
https://cindyfazzi.wordpress.com/2017/10/18/penguin-random-house-editor-offers-tips-on-beefing-up-supporting-characters/
Want to be a writer? Read, read, and read some more. It’s the first requirement for writing well. Don’t take my word for it, take Stephen King’s. He said: “You have to read widely, constantly refining (and redefining) your own work as you do. If you don’t have the time to read, you don’t have the time (or the tools) to write.” (more…)
Posted by cindyfazzi on October 4, 2017
https://cindyfazzi.wordpress.com/2017/10/04/5-reasons-why-reading-is-the-key-to-writing-success/
Photo via VisualHunt
A literary agent, two best-selling authors, an editor, and a digital strategist recently launched Career Authors, a free writing resource and a new online community for writers. (more…)
Posted by cindyfazzi on September 20, 2017
https://cindyfazzi.wordpress.com/2017/09/20/career-authors-free-online-resource-new-community-for-writers/
If you have an unpublished and unrepresented literary novel, two small presses offer an opportunity within the next few months. Coffee House Press has open submissions right now, while the Restless Books Prize for New Immigrant Writing is sponsoring a fiction contest. (more…)
Posted by cindyfazzi on September 6, 2017
https://cindyfazzi.wordpress.com/2017/09/06/small-presses-2-opportunities-for-unpublished-literary-novels/
(Photo by Cindy Fazzi, August 2017)
As a lifelong allergy sufferer who needs regular allergy shots, I can’t help but say that attending the recently held Writer’s Digest Annual Conference was a shot in the arm for me—as important (and more fun!) as my immunotherapy. Let me share the top 10 things I learned from the event. (more…)
Posted by cindyfazzi on August 30, 2017
https://cindyfazzi.wordpress.com/2017/08/30/10-takeaways-from-the-2017-writers-digest-annual-conference/
Photo via VisualHunt
If you write horror stories, now is your chance to scare up a book deal. The Inkshares 2017 Horror Contest will publish three or more manuscripts based on their popularity and judges’ choices. The contest is open until Halloween. (more…)
Posted by cindyfazzi on August 16, 2017
https://cindyfazzi.wordpress.com/2017/08/16/halloween-in-the-summer-inkshares-seeks-horror-stories/
Photo credit: popturfdotcom via VisualHunt / CC BY
Film is a universal art form. Those of us who write novels can learn a lot from the storytelling techniques of filmmakers, especially masters like Federico Fellini, Akira Kurosawa, and François Truffaut. Their films defied Hollywood norms and yet found a global audience. (more…)
Posted by cindyfazzi on June 14, 2017
https://cindyfazzi.wordpress.com/2017/06/14/14-lessons-for-writers-from-3-classic-foreign-films/
“You are what you submit,” says a former managing editor of a literary magazine. It behooves you to submit only your best work, and yet, the submission itch—the mad rush to release one’s work to the world—is a common malady. Before you submit, make sure you’re not making these three common mistakes. (more…)
Posted by cindyfazzi on May 24, 2017
https://cindyfazzi.wordpress.com/2017/05/24/beware-the-submission-itch-and-other-common-mistakes-writers-make/
Courtesy of Simon & Schuster
I’ve been meaning to read Joseph Heller’s “Catch-22” and Kurt Vonnegut’s “Slaughterhouse-Five” for their popularity and critical acclaim. I finally read both recently—at the same time. To be honest, they are not my favorite books, but they taught me three important lessons in writing. (more…)
Posted by cindyfazzi on May 17, 2017
https://cindyfazzi.wordpress.com/2017/05/17/3-writing-lessons-from-catch-22-and-slaughterhouse-five/
Photo via Visual hunt.
If you don’t think the Oxford comma is necessary, a federal court’s recent decision will tell you otherwise. The 1st Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled in favor of delivery drivers who claimed they were eligible for overtime pay under Maine’s regulations. Their argument relied on the absence of a serial comma in the law. (more…)
Posted by cindyfazzi on April 12, 2017
https://cindyfazzi.wordpress.com/2017/04/12/do-we-really-need-the-oxford-comma-a-federal-court-says-yes/
Cindy Fazzi 