Craft

"Stories change based on who is telling them."

Megan Miranda

Career Author’s Exclusive Interview with Homer!

by Our Special Guest | Jun 7, 2021 | Craft, Special Interview

Bestselling and critically acclaimed Greek poet, Homer, author of such genre-busting mega-bestsellers as The Odyssey and the Iliad, opens up in this unprecedented and candid conversation with Career Authors.

Should You Fictionalize Your Setting?

by Our Special Guest | Jun 2, 2021 | Craft

by Colleen Oakley “Setting is sometimes a character.” I’ll never forget my 11th-grade English...

Setting the Mood: Musical Strategies for Writing Inspiration

by Our Special Guest | May 26, 2021 | Craft, SciFi/Fantasy

Music to write by? Fantasy writer Stormy McDonald shares how her music playlist has become a crucial part of her writing process.

OBEDIENCE TRAINING FOR WRITERS: What living with dogs teaches us about writing

by Paula Munier | May 19, 2021 | Craft

Living with dogs in the real world and writing about them in her fictional world has taught Paula Munier that that many of the things she learned the hard way about dogs applied to writing as well. Here are the lessons writers can learn from their dogs.

PLOT THAT NOVEL! A Baker’s Dozen of Plotting Tricks & Tips, Courtesy of Atwood, Christie, Doctorow, Fitzgerald, Sorkin, and more

by Paula Munier | May 17, 2021 | Craft

The best plotting advice from big-name authors, from Margaret Atwood and Agatha Christie to F. Scott Fitzgerald and Aaron Sorkin

Writing Prompt: About Time

by Hank Phillippi Ryan | May 14, 2021 | Craft

Oh, no! Your character has no phone and no watch and no clocks–what time is it? Write a...

Weaving Real-Life Environmental Issues into Your Fictional World

by Hank Phillippi Ryan | May 12, 2021 | Craft

For the last twenty years, New York Times bestselling author Mary Alice Monroe has made a conscious decision to use her books as a force for good by helping readers become aware of the issues facing endangered species, and more importantly, to inspire them to care about those issues. Here’s how she does it.

Essentials to Elevate Your Pitch – Loglines & Comps

by Our Special Guest | May 5, 2021 | Craft

Agent extraordinaire, Gina Panettieri, talks about how to open your query letter and grab an agent’s attention in a Career Author’s exclusive article: Essentials to Elevate Your Pitch – Loglines & Comps

What Readers Want…and What They Don’t

by Brian Andrews | May 3, 2021 | Craft

I asked “super” readers two simple questions: What keeps you turning pages when reading a novel? What makes you stop reading a book before the end? I think their answers might surprise you…