Guest blog by Vanessa Tym Mary Shelley didn’t intend to invent a new book genre when she wrote Frankenstein in 1822 but now, over 200 years later, every library and bookstore has a science fiction section. Since the inception of categorizing literature, dating back to ancient Greece, we’ve been updating, expanding, and rethinking what genre […]
Read MoreSo you want to write a book. Becoming an author can change your life—not to mention give you the ability to impact thousands, even millions, of people. But writing a book isn’t easy. As a 21-time New York Times bestselling author, I can tell you: It’s far easier to quit than to finish. You’re going […]
Read MoreYou may have heard the terms memoir and autobiography used interchangeably. They often live on the same shelf in bookstores. Both are nonfiction and contain facts from someone’s life, so what’s the difference? Let me walk you through the differences so you can be confident which you should be writing. What Memoir and Autobiography Have […]
Read MorePeople browsing books usually scan the cover for the title, author, and whoever wrote the foreword. Then they glance at the back cover. If intrigued, they’ll turn to the first chapter. Your first paragraph—from the first sentence—must compel your reader to continue. The power of creative nonfiction comes from using a technique common in fiction—rendering […]
Read MoreThere’s no way around it. You need a book outline if you’re writing nonfiction. For a novel, if you’re a Pantser (one who writes by the seat of your pants—like I do) as opposed to an Outliner, you can get away with having a rough idea where you’re going and how to get there. But […]
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