The 7am Novelist

Patricia Park talks to us about how she blocks out her scenes from the very beginning, keeping in mind the scene’s necessary Pulse and Point (POS), and how she combines and revises her first ideas into deeper, more complicated moments of emotion and purpose. Find Patty’s most recent book and more of my favorites on the 7am Novelist Bookshop page. Patricia Park is an Assistant Professor of Creative...

Lost your sense of wonder and excitement about your writing? Margo Rabb has the cure. And read more about Margo finding inspiration in gardens: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/abandoned-industrial-ruin-garden-wilmington-dupont-crowninshield-180981544/ https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/05/opinion/garden-of-solace.html For a list of my fave craft books and most recent works by our guests, go to...

Sympathy for the devil (and understanding a bit of that devil in yourself). Author Randy Susan Meyers helps us understand our antagonist’s deeper worlds, making them more believable, interesting, and worth spending time with. Find Randy’s most recent book and more of my favorites on the 7am Novelist Bookshop page. The drama of  Randy Susan Meyers ' internationally bestselling novels, including Acc...

Do you know what a French scene is? I didn’t! This and other helpful tips and tricks from the very source of our storytelling structures: playwriting. And Sari Boren, essayist, storyteller, and playwright is here to help us out. For a list of my fave craft books and the most recent works by our guests, go to our Bookshop page. Sari Boren is playwright, essayist, and museum exhibit developer. She p...

How do you know when it’s time to put a book away? How do you find your voice again in moments of doubt? And when is that doubt useful, even necessary, to the writing process as a whole? We talk to authors Dawn Tripp and Jane Roper about their experience with the highs and lows of the writing life. For a list of my fave craft books and the most recent works by our guests, go to our Bookshop page....

Interview best practices, how to get yourself geared up for an interview in the first place, how to pace them with your writing, and how to blend what you learn with your own stories and experience. Our experts Shalene Gupta and E.B. Bartels give us their best tips. For a list of my fave craft books and the most recent works by our guests, go to our Bookshop page. E.B.’s quick tips! This piece was...

Jobs, kids, life! How to deal with the challenges of self-doubt, belief in your work, juggling your relationships and your writing time, and possibly even using those obstacles to spur you on. Authors David Abrams and Ilan Mochari share their experience to help us out. For a list of my fave craft books and the most recent works by our guests, go to our Bookshop page. David Abrams is the author of...

How does a writer find balance between their private lives and their own writing with the more public facing writer persona, marketer, and literary citizen? And what does writer moxie have to do with it? To help us out, we talk to one writer who somehow does all three spectacularly: Jenna Blum. For a list of my fave craft books and the most recent works by our guests, go to our Bookshop page. JENN...

It’s not as hard as you think—and far more integral than you might know. Dariel Suarez helps us break down the important of context for writers and readers both. For a list of my fave craft books and the most recent works by our guests, go to our Bookshop page. Dariel Suarez was born and raised in Havana, Cuba. He is the author of the novel  The Playwright’s House  (Red Hen Press), finalist for th...

Mixing reality and invention in fiction and nonfiction might just allow you to say something even more “true.” We discuss how you can you deepen your prose by understanding your character’s interior world, how that interior world makes itself known in exterior details, while also offering vulnerability and honesty to your reader. Authors Alysia Abbott and Lise Haines join us. For a list of my fave...

Keeping the faith through the (sometimes long) agent hunt, asking the right questions, working with a developmental editor, finding patience during the submission process, and what to expect from your agent or editor. Novelists Rita Woods and Nancy Crochiere offer their experience and wisdom about the journey. For a list of my fave craft books and the most recent works by our guests, go to our Boo...

Shocking beginnings, the predictable versus the unpredictable, character vulnerabilities, and much more. Director and screen-writer Devi Snively lays out the techniques common to horror movies that can help spark your stories and deepen them as well. For a list of my fave craft books and the most recent works by our guests, go to our Bookshop page. An award-winning screenwriter/filmmaker, modestly...

When you’re stuck with your book, sometimes it’s better to step back from the words and find a different way of seeing what’s happening on the page. Author Henriette Lazaridis gives us loads of tricks to give you new insight into your novel or story through maps, objects, and other non-narrative visuals and spatial representations. For a list of my fave craft books and the most recent works by our...

Why are middles so difficult? And what can we do to avoid losing our readers interest in our story? Hank Phillippi Ryan gives us a series of five steps to help you think through the muddle, PLUS, a whole lot of ideas for creating obstacles for your characters that remain true to your book. For a list of my fave craft books and the most recent works by our guests, go to our Bookshop page. HANK PHIL...

How to (and how not to) give and receive feedback, with authors and teachers Daphne Kalotay and Margot Livesey. For a list of my fave craft books and the most recent works by our guests, go to our Bookshop page. Margot Livesey  grew up on the edge of the Scottish Highlands.  She is the author of nine novels, a collection of stories and a book of essays about the craft of fiction. She teaches at th...

Feeling stuck? Caught in the dregs of self-doubt and too-much planning? AE Osworth is here to save us all with Joy First Drafting (seriously, give it a try). For a list of my fave craft books and the most recent works by our guests, go to our Bookshop page. A.E. Osworth is a transgender novelist whose debut,  WE ARE WATCHING ELIZA BRIGHT  was long listed for The Center For Fiction First Novel Priz...

How to forgive yourself for not writing and how to get back to it in both big and small ways. Author Stephanie Gayle helps us out. Stephanie Gayle is the Immediate Past President of Sisters in Crime and the author of Idyll Threats, Idyll Fears and Idyll Hands. She works at MIT and shares a home with the world’s cutest bunny, Bao. To find a list of my favorite craft book and the most recent books b...

Today we hear from author Katherine Sherbrooke about how to make your reader root for your protagonist and why you should even need to try. What if your character is an awful person? What if they don’t want to do anything? We talk about navigating these complexities in order to keep the reader engaged. Katherine Sherbrooke is the author of a family memoir called  Finding Home  and   three novels:...

Join us as we talk about Anjali’s journey toward publishing her first book, writing her second, and her decision to launch an independent press with fellow author Henriette Lazaridis that re-envisions the writer-publisher dynamic and how books are marketed and sold. Anjali Mitter Duva is an Indian American writer who was raised in France. Her first novel, FAINT PROMISE OF RAIN, set in 16th century...

Why include real life characters, either historical or present-day (even family!), in your fiction? How might it inspire and give some valuable context to your work? And what are some of the pitfalls you might want to avoid? Authors Chris Boucher and Hesse Phillips help us wade through the answers. This webinar recording is available for 24 hours. Missed it? Listen to the podcast version, availabl...

What are the differences between YA and adult, and why do I have to pay attention to them if I want to write something in between? Emily Ross and Desmond Hall help us navigate this thorny issue that involves voice, content, audience, marketing, and what it means to stay true to your vision (and how genre rules might just help you). For a list of my fave craft books and the most recent works by our...

Author Julie Carrick Dalton helps us re-see our novel drafts through a unique (and colorful) method she calls “Visual Graphing.” Julie Carrick Dalton is the Boston-based author of  Waiting for the Night Song , named a Most Anticipated 2021 novel by CNN,  Newsweek, USA Today, Parade , and others, and an Amazon Editor’s pick for Best Books of the Month. A Bread Loaf, Tin House, and GrubStreet Novel...

Character interiority in prose is one of the most misused and misunderstood writing tools, but without it your story will go nowhere. Rebecca Makkai helps us understand why our prose needs interiority and how to do it, going beyond the surface level. For a list of my fave craft books and the most recent works by our guests, go to our Bookshop page. Rebecca Makkai is the Chicago-based author of the...

Why rewrite old tales and myths? And how best to do it? Helping us find the answers, we’re joined by Nina MacLaughlin , author of Wake, Siren , a story collection retelling Ovid’s Metamorphosis from the perspective of the women transformed in his tales. For a list of my fave craft books and the most recent works by our guests, go to our Bookshop page. Nina MacLaughlin  is the author of  Wake, Sire...

How to represent place with good research, good intentions, great details, an ear for the nuances of criticism and nostalgia (your own and those of others), and as always: humility. To help us out, we hear from Allison Amend and Shilpi Suneja, both writing about places they know well and places less familiar to them and to their readers. For a list of my fave craft books and the most recent works...