by Jamie Chavez | Aug 13, 2016 | The Writing Craft
Like author Chuck Wendig, I’ve gotten a whole lot pickier about what I read and how much time I give it before I stop. “For one,” he says, “it’s time.” Work and time and personal responsibilities all intrude. But also, he says, “I’m like a stage magician where it’s...
by Jamie Chavez | Jun 12, 2016 | Your Editor Says …
There is so much good information in this article, I don’t know where to start. But how about here: just because you’ve got the novel down—and have polished the plot until it shines—doesn’t mean you’re done. “All of these things might have escaped your notice while...
by Jamie Chavez | May 16, 2016 | Books You Might Like, The Writing Craft
It’s nearly 500 pages long—and I flew through Helen Simonson’s second novel set in an English village. I never wanted to put it down. Also, it made me angry (on behalf of a character I loved), and it made me cry a couple times. This is a sign that I was fully...
by Jamie Chavez | May 14, 2016 | Your Editor Says …
A comma splice is only a little error, easily fixed. If you gave me a manuscript full of run-on sentences caused by them, it would be an easy edit. But—the “world’s top* grammarian,” this short article from Business Insider tells us, “fears that this punctuation error...
by Jamie Chavez | Jan 14, 2016 | Books You Might Like
I learned to read—I mean learned to read carefully—in 1969. I was in graduate school then and trying to figure out if I should begin to write short stories. … I did not know very much. … Part of my school training as a writer, however, provided that I could learn how...
