Okay, you’ve done it! You’ve written a fantastic story; your beta-readers have torn the hell out of it; you’ve fixed the weird bits; you’ve trimmed off the fat. Â You formatted it following William Shunn‘s excellent advice. Â (You did format it using William Shunn’s excellent advice, right? Â Maybe you should double check, especially on the section […]
Author Archive > Wendy Wagner
Resolution: organization
Hellooooooo! Welcome to the new year. If you’re like me, you’ve made some resolutions (you, ten pounds–you’re going down!). If you’re a writing type–also, like me–you’re getting ducks in a row, setting goals and starting new projects. And if you live in the real world (don’t look at me, I just rent on this planet), […]
On spells & spelling: an interview with Blake Charlton
The day I downloaded Google Chrome, I realized something: I’m no longer the spelling queen I used to be. Watching Chrome mercilessly auto-spell-check my Tweets and Google searches made my heart hurt. Spelling sometimes seems trivial, but often I caught myself struggling and failing to spell a complicated word, only to settle for the next […]
We’ve got guts
You know that scene in Harry Potter & the Half-Blood Prince where Harry & Dumbledore are in the cave, and Harry has to keep making Dumbledore drink that horrible poison? No matter how badly it hurts Dumbledore, or how badly he begs for mercy, Harry has to keep lying to him and telling him things […]
If not “hello,” then what?
Did you know that the word “hello” didn’t reach the English vernacular until the 1800’s?  It evolved from the word “hullo,” which you still occasionally hear in British movies.  So even though “hi” always sounds new-fangled and fun, it might prove to be  a better choice for a greeting when you’re writing historical fiction.  “Hi” […]
