The death of my darlings

Editing. If you’re like me, it’s a more pleasurable part of the writing life than facing that blank page every morning, but it’s not without it’s agonies. ‘Whenever you feel an impulse to perpetrate a piece of exceptionally fine writing, obey it—whole-heartedly—and delete it before sending your manuscript to press. Murder your darlings.’ – Sir…

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The writer is 'branded'

Publishers and agents will sometimes ask a writer about his or her branding. They want to know what the marketability of the writer is. What the backstory is. They want to know what the publicity angle will be for a book. And, more often than not, they want the writer to provide this information, if…

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Waiting…sometimes patiently

The author, waiting (photo by Ron Davis) If you’re anything like me, you spend a good deal of your life waiting, watching, squinting your eyes toward the horizon, pacing, jingling the coins in your pocket, taping your foot, drumming your fingernails on the tabletop, wondering if maybe, just maybe that speck out there is the…

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