I will admit that I was a little harried last week trying to stay on top of things. That’s my excuse for being what some might call careless in my eagerness to get everything done, including a post on my own blog. I wrote it, gave it a quick read, made it live and clicked that overdue item off my to- do list. And then I got this text from my proofreader/mom. “You...
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(Note – this post has been edited and changes are indicated for purposes of demonstration.) Do you want to get your reader’s attention? Really? Are you sure? Of course you do. What a ridiculous question. Why have I even bothered to ask? It’s simple: I want your attention. It’s called a hook. As in the hook that goes on the end of a fishing line. You want to...
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I’ve sat here for a solid five minutes or so starting this paragraph and then deleting and starting something else. After all these years and all the mounds of copy I’ve written, it should be easy, right? Sometimes it looks like it must have been easy – the words are so perfect, so engaging, so easy to read that it seems they must have flowed right off my fingers....
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I’ve been teaching myself to draw. I’ve actually been working on it for many years now and I finally feel like I’m making a little bit of progress. But even though I’ve drawn some things I really like, I still get sweaty palms when I sit down in front of a blank page. I’m not sure of how the drawing will turn out. I fear it will be awful. I feel stymied by not...
Read MoreRick Riordan has become the author that many writers aspire to be. He not only writes books, he does it for a living. Two of them have been turned into movies. And children will drag their parents into Boston on a Saturday morning and stand in line to get into a crowded church just for a chance to see him speak. Riordan told his audience at the Boston Book Festival...
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