Brunonia Barry on Painting in the Blanks

It isn’t the blank page that I find terrifying. It’s the idea of beginning. I can easily put words on a page, that’s not the problem. I often begin a new novel by doing something I’ve heard described as “clearing your throat.” I usually write fifty to a hundred pages that I will never use, but within those pages I often discover the entire back story of each character and the journey those characters will take together.

Every book requires research. Even if it’s set in your hometown and your protagonist is a whole lot like you, there will be some moment where you’re not sure of a fact – was the corner store there in 1994? Is it 15 miles to Waverly or 16? – and you will, in some way, [...]

I know Kathleen and Therese meant well when they asked me to offer my best writing advice, but I gotta tell you, the idea that I could presume to do so after being here less than three months? With the pedigree of you folks? Oy. The very concept made me break out in hives. Fortunately, [...]

Please welcome guest contributor Jeanne Kisacky to WU.  Scholar and architectural historian, Jeanne was a finalist in our search for our unpubbed contributor, and we thought her essay was fantastic.   Jeanne tells us  ”I’m a recovering architect (anyone interested in joining the charter chapter of Architects Anonymous, please contact me); and an escaped editor. For [...]

Two weekends ago, I participated in the delightful Tucson Festival of Books. While on a panel with Karen Joy Fowler, Margaret Erhart and Daniel Stolar, we fell into a discussion of the importance of setting and sense of place. We all expressed surprise and frustration at the lack of setting details that sometimes show up [...]

I promised you a post on building Facebook ads, and this is it. I know, I know, you can barely contain your excitement! So why Facebook ads? Facebook ads are something the marketing team at Shaye Areheart Books recommended I try, since I wanted to contribute to my book’s campaign. They were easy to set [...]

Sherri — a regular reader at my weblog — asked me recently what books I’d recommend to somebody who has just started writing fiction. It’s a reasonable question, as there are about a bazillion how-to-write-a best-selling-novel-and-get-published books out there. There are several distinct subcategories of the writing-related how-to books — craft, theory, inspiration, marketing/sales, reference, [...]

When I started writing historical fiction seriously (approximately 1995) I was still on the faculty at the University of Michigan. This meant that I had a fantastic library at my disposal. Faculty could (and probably still can) send an email or call and say, here’s a list of books and articles I need. Later that [...]

February is Plot Month at WU.  Back in 2006, I road-tested THE WRITER’S JOURNEY by Christopher Vogler to see if it was an efficient (notice I didn’t say easy) method of plotting a book.  Two manuscripts later, I’m still using Vogler as the foundation for my stories.  It’s been the best method for me to [...]

Kath here.  Today’s post is the first from WU’s newest contributor, Rosina Lippi.  Enjoy! For the historical novelist – for anyone interested in history – the internet has brought about a revolution. We are floating in a sea of information that deepens and spreads minute by minute. It’s incredibly empowering, but it also has its dangers. [...]

Kath here. As part of my ongoing effort to find the perfect way to organize a mess when it comes to notes and research, I asked blogger Lisa Janice Cohen if she would share her organizing tool, TiddlyWikiWrite, and I was thrilled when she agreed.  Lisa (left) created TiddlyWikiWrite out of an existing wiki platform (ingenious) into [...]

I’m currently in NYC! Today I meet my superhero agent, Elisabeth Weed, and yesterday I met my fabulous new editor, Sarah Knight. I’ll tell you more about these meetings when I get back home. For now, I wanted to share an idea I had with you, something that occurred to me while straightening my desk [...]

Some of you may already know about this approach, but this can be a valuable tip for those who don’t, so I’ll risk boring the savvy ones with this info. First, keep your entire book manuscript in one electronic file—it’s a huge time-saver. I know writers who use a separate file on their computer for [...]

First off, I want to thank you all for your congrats. This has been a wild few weeks, for sure. And, since Therese Fowler removed her supergirl mask in comments, I’d like to say a public thanks to her, too–my willing pre-publication blurber. Thanks, Therese! You’re the best of the best! Okay, on to today’s [...]

A really interesting set of studies came out of Johns Hopkins recently, showing what happened to jazz performers when improvising music. Are there lessons here for writers, too? This, from Science Daily: A pair of Johns Hopkins and government scientists have discovered that when jazz musicians improvise, their brains turn off areas linked to self-censoring [...]