In 2002, when Julie Powell began her Julie and Julia blog project, cooking 524 of Julia Child’s recipes in a single year, the project book was a fairly new idea. The Julie and Julia book was published in 2005, and Sony pictures made it into a movie in 2009. Today, the market is flooded with project...Read More
Need some more ideas for books to give the writers in your life? Here are three great options. And here’s the best part: I’m giving away a copy of each book! Read on to learn how you can win. For the writer who wants to make more money. A few years ago, a new friend...Read More
So it’s Wednesday, otherwise known as writing prompt day over here at Write Now! Coach. Instead of offering a prompt today, I’m providing a list of great books to inspire the writers on your list to keep writing! You may also decide to buy these for yourself, and I think that’s a splendid idea! Give THESE...Read More
Full confession I’ve been writing about and recommending books for years, but there are whole genres I do not read. For example, I do not read romance novels. Well, not really. I will admit to spending some wonderful days with chick lit novels like Helen Fielding’s Bridget Jones’s Diary and Katie Fforde’s Wild Designs. Still I am...Read More
Today’s tip is our first guest author tip. I welcome Pamela Bitterman who reflects on the writing text, On Writing Well: The Classic Guide to Writing Nonfiction by William Zinsser. If you’d like to be a guest author for the tips or blog, check out our author information section on the Write Now! Coach website....Read More
In my late twenties, I discovered Madeleine L’Engle’s book, Walking on Water: Reflections on Faith and Art. I’d been a fan of her Newbery Award-winning book A Wrinkle in Time since I was seven. In Walking on Water, I discovered the writer behind the book I had loved for so long. L’Engle preached the benefits...Read More
Late last month I spoke with Debra Brenegan about writing historical fiction. Here is some of what she had to say about the process of writing and submitting her novel about Fanny Fern, Shame the Devil: Write Now! Coach: How did you escape the research-for-the-rest-of-my-life trap? Debra Brenegan: I think that is a problem that...Read More
For years I pooh-poohed mystery novels, considering them inferior to literary fiction. Then I met my favorite writer, Madeleine L’Engle, who admitted to not only reading but loving mystery novels. She touted the genre for its ability to teach plot to the would-be fiction writer. Like a good student, I took down the names of...Read More
For years, I imagined that authors were blessed with a humongous dose of inspiration that drove them to work hard and achieve great things. Now I know differently. Haruki Murakami is a Japanese novelist and runner. In his book, What I Talk About When I Talk About Running, Murakami says: Even if there were two...Read More
In college, I dreamed of becoming a professor. In the midst of doing an intensive semester-long independent study, one of my professors told me that scholars must possess a large capacity for boredom. For years, I’ve thought the same thing about writing. Often, the research for a particular article or book means slogging through a...Read More
