How to write a villain who feels real to your readers

Posted on 01/22/2020 at 10:00 AM by Sadye Scott-Hainchek

Author Suzanne Collins revealed yesterday that her Hunger Games prequel would tell the back story of the hated President Snow....

Categories: Behind the scenes

Tagged As: Characters, Jane Friedman, Writing advice

Jane Friedman: Steer clear of these five story openers

Posted on 01/10/2020 at 01:28 PM by Sadye Scott-Hainchek

Jane Friedman isn’t trying to ban the use of five specific story openers. She does want to point out, though,...

Categories: Behind the scenes

Tagged As: First lines and first chapters, Jane Friedman, Writing advice

Agree or disagree? Editor says to stick with "said" and "asked"

Posted on 01/06/2020 at 10:23 AM by Sadye Scott-Hainchek

During the creative-writing portion of eighth-grade English class, the teacher gave us a handout of one hundred ways to say...

Categories: Behind the scenes

Tagged As: Jane Friedman, Language, Writing advice

What's the point? Author defends her pro-exclamation stance

Posted on 12/31/2019 at 03:00 PM by Sadye Scott-Hainchek

What else is ubiquitous this time of year besides year-end lists and predictions for the future? The exclamation point! Think...

Categories: Behind the scenes

Tagged As: Jane Friedman, Just for fun, Language

How a later-in-life author knew she was ready to share her work

Posted on 12/11/2019 at 09:18 AM by Sadye Scott-Hainchek

Like many of you, author Adela Crandell Durkee made the decision to come to writing, rather than feeling born to...

Categories: Behind the scenes

Tagged As: Author interview, Jane Friedman

Debut author asks readers: How do you take a chance on me?

Posted on 11/12/2019 at 10:41 AM by Sadye Scott-Hainchek

There’s no denying that selling books to readers is much easier once you’ve gotten them to try the first one....

Categories: Behind the scenes

Tagged As: Jane Friedman, Marketing, The business of writing

Why you need to leave some things out of your memoir

Posted on 11/08/2019 at 11:54 AM by Sadye Scott-Hainchek

Even if you’ve tightly focused your memoir, making sure it’s not an autobiography, you’ll still be faced with the issue...

Categories: Behind the scenes

Tagged As: Jane Friedman, Memoir, Writer's Digest, Writing advice

Choose your story's tense wisely

Posted on 10/30/2019 at 04:00 PM by Sadye Scott-Hainchek

Among the many powerful stylistic choices an author can make is which tense to write in. In Peter Selgin’s latest...

Categories: Behind the scenes

Tagged As: Jane Friedman, Writing advice

Why writers might actually want a bit of noise

Posted on 10/29/2019 at 05:00 PM by Sadye Scott-Hainchek

Of course, there’s no one-size-fits-all perfect space for creative work. That said, we’ve always imagined that a quiet setting should...

Categories: Behind the scenes

Tagged As: Jane Friedman

One author's tips for approaching literary influencers

Posted on 10/24/2019 at 03:00 PM by Sadye Scott-Hainchek

If the word "influencer" reminds you of the Fyre Music Festival documentaries that were so popular earlier this year, take...

Categories: Behind the scenes

Tagged As: Jane Friedman, Marketing