If you are planning on being published, you must have a fan page. Sorry. Whether we like it or not marketing is part of the job description. I know most of us would rather have brain surgery with a KFC spork than have to self-promote, but that’s the cold hard truth. Anyone tell you different and they are lying or selling something.
Tag: Kristen Lamb
Aug 16 2010
It’s Okay to be a Kid—Pitfalls that Can Stunt a Writer’s Growth Part I
Just because a writer writes beautiful prose, in no way means she can carry off a story structure strong enough to sustain 100,000 words. Fiction, especially in reference to novels, is a highly intricate composite of many layers—characterization, dialogue, perspective, pacing, conflict, voice, setting, symbolism, arcs, themes, plot, scenes & sequels, and on and on. The skill and training required to write fiction well can be mind-blowing.
Aug 13 2010
Reality T.V.–The Tractor Beam of Stupid
I will never recapture the time wasted watching dog-groomers compete, or chef’s throw insults and Steak au Poivre at each other. Will never get back the hours watching otherwise smart, talented, beautiful women claw each other like desperate hyenas to garner the Bachelor’s vacuous proposal.
Aug 11 2010
WANA Wednesday—It’s a Pen Name, Not Witness Protection
Am I against pen names? NO! But I do advise that you take a moment and ask some important questions first. If I the magic genie could wave a wand and GUARANTEE that in three years you would be an international success, would you still want the pen name?
Aug 09 2010
Little Darlings & Why They Must Die..for Real
These two related booby-traps are often hidden beneath our little darlings (clever dialogue, beautiful description, etc). That is probably why Stephen King recommended we kill them. Yes, kill them dead. No burying them in the Pet Semetary, also known as “revision.” Killing means killing….as in delete forever. Yet too many times we hang on to those favorite characters or bits of dialogue, reworking them and hoping we can make them fit…at the expense of the rest of the story.






