The challenge of writing ottava rima are maintaining the rhythm and the narrative expectation while working in a tight form: six lines, one rhyming pair alternating with another, then a concluding couplet. Because ottava rima builds up as it goes, it develops both momentum and an ending; thus the last turn tend to be difficult […]

Should you listen or should you read? The question sounds easy, except when you remember: Listening takes hours in your car, whereas reading tires out your eyes within half an hour. You’ve got two hours of phone time before a book’s due. Should you spend it reading? Or should you take back those minutes that’ll […]

The back cover blurb you’re fond of might be a little long. A lot of times it’s just because there isn’t enough room for it on paperbacks (the actual real-world space) and the editor trim it down to make it work on design. More likely, though, you wrote what you wanted to say instead of […]

It’s happening: Your deadline looms, and you realize your manuscript has grown longer then necessary. How long until it’ll be shipshape? You click the mouse. And then the blinking cursor stare back, taunting you. Writers tend to default to their typical reading speed when proofreading, which isn’t the best method. Because proofreading is an act […]