Issue 12  December 14 2023

Writing “Women of a Certain Age.” A Roundtable on Crafting Older Female Characters in Fiction ‹ Literary Hub

I write to understand and make meaning of what I’m up against in my own life.

Five Elements of Relationship Plotlines - WRITERS HELPING WRITERS®

Just as a character arc is about how a character grows or changes through a story, a relationship arc is about how a relationship grows or changes through a story. And at the most basic level, there are only four arcs that can happen: positive change, negative change, positive steadfast, negative steadfast.

Getting Down to Business – Writer Unboxed

AI insiders continued to battle it out with the legal system and with each other. Where it stops nobody knows. Speaking of, Kindle Direct is beta-testing virtual voice narration for audiobooks.

Your Character’s Faith (or Lack Thereof) – Writer Unboxed

I think the status of religion as a third rail in fiction is largely premised on the possibility it will not be handled well—specifically, that writers will do a disservice to one group of readers or another by identifying a character’s sect.

Worse, it’s feared that the writer, consciously or unconsciously, will show favor to one denomination over another.

That’s not just a failure of technique. It’s a failure of imagination and empathy.

Your Manuscript Has Been Edited By Top Professionals—But You Still Get Rejected. What Gives? | Jane Friedman

There are three reasons your book is getting rejected:

The query isn’t selling the book or your professionalism. The book feels dated (despite the argument in the query that it’s in tune with current events). In the first 25 pages, as the story flickers to life, it’s drowned in an ocean of backstory.

Red Flags for Writers: When Publishing Goes All Wrong | BREVITY's Nonfiction Blog

At the beginning of 2021, I landed an agent (Yay!) I was on cloud nine and imagined that I was within reach of my life-long dream of publishing a novel.

I should have known better. There were signs.

How To Network When You’re An Introverted Writer | by Writer’s Relief | Nov, 2023 | Medium

Networking doesn’t necessarily mean working the room, talking face-to-face with lots of people you don’t know, or being assertive. It can also mean engaging with communities that support you and making friends with writers who have similar interests — all of which can be done right from home!

Tommy Dorfman Will Direct the Movie Adaptation of ‘Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up With Me' | Them

Mariko Tamaki, who wrote the queer coming-of-age graphic novel, is also writing the screenplay.

Suzette Mullen Reflects on Coming Out in Later in Life

At sixty-something, Mullen’s brave decision to come out later in life meant leaving a safe, comfortable thirty-year marriage to a man and risking her relationships with her two adult sons. “[Coming out] was the hardest decision I’ve ever had to make,” she tells Tagg, “but the cost of authenticity is worth it.”

Writers and Musicians on the Influence of ‘Rubyfruit Jungle’ - The New York Times

Kristen Arnett, k.d. lang, Myriam Gurba and 10 more on Rita Mae Brown’s breakthrough novel about lesbian identity, published 50 years ago this fall.

Dhonielle Clayton Is Working to Make the Book World More Diverse - The New York Times

She’s aiming to create a pipeline for fiction featuring racially diverse and L.G.B.T.Q. protagonists, as well as characters living with disabilities, and who come from diverse religious and cultural backgrounds, to convince publishers that those stories can be commercial blockbusters. She works exclusively with writers from marginalized communities, and aims to give her authors a fair cut of the pay, and the tools to have their own careers.

Scholastic Book Fair Organizers Are Cautiously Optimistic After Segregated Diverse Book Collection Is Discontinued | Teen Vogue

“I am hesitantly optimistic by this statement. We as a community need to make sure they follow through and actually integrate the diverse books into every fair.”