by Jamie Chavez | May 23, 2015 | The Writing Craft
I read this short article—“A reader’s advice to writers”—a while back and thought it was an interesting twist: a reader advises writers of fiction on what makes a good book. Here one I like a lot: 2. Make your main character do something. For the reasons stated above,...
by Jamie Chavez | May 7, 2015 | The Writing Craft
Nobody taught me specific methods for editing. Some tactics are obvious (you should be kind, for example, which is a rule for life as well as for editing) and others are strategies I came up with on my own right here in the swanky second-floor office in the pink house...
by Jamie Chavez | Apr 6, 2015 | Your Editor Says …
The other day I was corresponding with a writer who’d contacted me though my website. She had a manuscript. And she knew she needed an edit. Edit, though, is too broad a term. People contact me for an edit all the time. Most first-time writers are wise, now, to the...
by Jamie Chavez | Mar 19, 2015 | The Writing Craft
We’ve talked a lot about the ways story ideas pop up. Interpretation of artwork, old family stories, historical or current events … Stephenie Meyer’s claim that it all came to her in a dream is the least interesting method to me, mostly because I don’t really believe...
by Jamie Chavez | Feb 12, 2015 | The Writing Craft
Here’s another in my Study This series about intentional reading—that is, novels you writers will read for pleasure (always pleasure!) but also to study. To deconstruct. To have a look at how the author made the magic. You know I love YA, so it should come as no...
