A Writer’s Confession

I was doing an annual authors’ dinner at a Bay Area library a couple of nights ago. It was a beautiful event organized by the Friends of the Library, with a cocktail hour, silent auction, nice meal by candlelight, good company, etc. During the pre-dinner reception,...

5 Habits of Highly Effective Writers

Be a reader. Read widely and well. Read in the genre in which you are writing, but also break away from it. Read essays, crime fiction, flash fiction, poetry. Read investigative journalism. Read diaries from the nineteenth century. Read a book you remember from...

How to Write a Novel : 10 Steps

Michelle Richmond The first thing you need to know about writing a novel is that there are no easy answers. The second thing you need to know is that, if you’re anything like most of us, it’s going to be quite difficult. There’s no magic formula for novel-writing....

How to Start a Story

One of the questions I hear frequently from aspiring writers is, “How do I start a story?” Even seasoned writers have days when the story won’t come. Talking to a reporter for Interview Magazine in 1995, Martin Amis said of novel-writing, “If I...