Writing real people is the hardest character work there is: you know too much and can say too little. Craft rules for memoirists putting family on the page.
Posts Taggedthe book maven
Charge Like The Deadline Is Real (Money Math For Word People)
Freelance writers undercharge for one reason and it isn’t the market. Pricing math, impostor tax included, for people who sell sentences.
The Stage Can Hear You Explaining
Theater dialogue fails in a special way: out loud, in real time, with witnesses. A playwright’s guide to lines actors can actually say.
Your Art Book Needs Words (Twelve, Minimum)
Photographers and artists making books hit a wall called writing. Artist statements, captions, and intros for people who’d rather do anything else.
Facts Can Sweat (Show-Don’t-Tell For Nonfiction People)
Show-don’t-tell isn’t fiction’s private property. How journalists, copywriters, and researchers make true things land in the body, not just the brain.
Your Font Is Doing The Screaming (Cover Typography Triage)
Readers judge your cover in half a second, and the font testifies first. Typography triage for authors who think type is a detail. It’s the voice.
The Cobbler’s Manuscript Has No Shoes (When Editors Write Books)
You edit for a living, which makes your own draft the most over-supervised manuscript alive. How professional editors get out of their own way.
The Back Cover Is A First Date, Not A Deposition
Your blurb is not a summary. It’s a seduction with a word count. How to write back cover copy that makes browsers walk to the register.
Your Speech Reads Great. It Just Can’t Be Said Out Loud.
Speeches and scripts are edited with the eye and murdered by the mouth. The ear-first editing pass for anyone whose words get performed.
Thirty-Two Pages, Two Bosses (Picture Books Without A Custody Battle)
A picture book is a duet where the words and art keep grabbing the same microphone. How author-illustrator teams split thirty-two pages peacefully.