tutorials Archives

You can never read the same story twice. Some of us complain about returning to earlier favorites only to find they’ve been rendered unreadable by visits from an imaginary being called “the Suck Fairy.” The Suck Fairy brings to our attention the unfortunate assumptions our favorite authors made as they created their fictional worlds: the racism implicit in Tarzan’s superiority over Black Africa…

As writers, we face the constant struggle of rejection, self-doubt, creative blocks and, let’s face it, isolation from hours spent alone. Unless, of course, we include keeping company with our imaginary friends. In my work as a life coach, I’ve discovered two helpful tools for when the mental grind of being a writer takes a toll on clients. Behavioral Activation and the ABC Model are part of Co…

I led my first writer/reader panel nearly 30 years ago. In many ways, Giving a Good Panel is even trickier than Giving a Good Session. The latter is solely dependent upon your skills and knowledge, but the former requires a degree of cooperation, a balancing of knowledge and time, and a seriously good moderator. Over the years, I’ve seen both brilliant and disastrous panels. This can be easily …

Because just about everyone in NINC is smarter than me about advertising, I reached out to three people who I know are experiencing success on different ad platforms. And since they were all so generous, this grew into a two-part article; come back in December for more ad advice. Pam Kelley, USA Today and Wall Street Journal bestselling author of women’s fiction, family sagas, and suspense, sai…

We’ve all had that experience of stepping into an elevator, realizing you’re in there with an editor or an agent, and he or she asks you what you’re working on. As you stammer out your long-winded answer (starting off with the classic “Well, it’s complicated”), the moment ends (i.e., the elevator door opens) and said editor or agent goes their way. Could you have made use of that opportunity by…

In fiction, the term “red herring” is a technique designed to distract the reader by introducing misleading information. It’s a false clue, meant to deceive, before the truth is revealed. Take a look at your latest story. Have all your plot twists been resolved? Do you have any red herring plot threads that you overlooked? There’s nothing more frustrating than finishing your book, tweaking ever…