by Chris Watson | Jan 15, 2023 | Best Practices, Events, The Writing Process
As the publishing industry has expanded through innovative platforms and an explosion of indie authors, so too has the technology to support them. Whether you’re drafting a manuscript, self-publishing your work, designing a marketing plan, leveraging social media for...
by Chris Watson | Jan 15, 2022 | Original Writing
I’ve been thinking a lot about time ever since I received the call at 5:55 PM on a Wednesday. How much time it took me to put on my jacket. To sprint from my office, down the hall, and out to my car. To drive across the bridge to Jamestown to be with my stepmother and...
by Chris Watson | Oct 24, 2021 | The Writing Process
Quote of the Day: “If you’re only going to write when you’re inspired, you may be a fairly decent poet, but you will never be a novelist — because you’re going to have to make your word count today, and those words aren’t going to wait for you, whether you’re inspired...
by Chris Watson | Mar 26, 2021 | Authors
RIP Beverly Cleary. I adored her books as a child and now, as a parent, I’ve loved them all over again as I read them to my daughter and then watched her become a huge fan of reading as a result. I think she can recite Ramona the Pest word for word by now. I also love...
by Chris Watson | Oct 15, 2020 | The Writing Process
While on my writing retreat in western Massachusetts, I realized I had no idea where I was going. Well, not me but my characters. I was 80,000 words into my manuscript, characters were leaving the city in which much of the action takes place, and I couldn’t recall...
by Chris Watson | Oct 2, 2020 | The Writing Process
I’m faced with a challenge. A professional resource whose opinion I’ve come to trust advises that I need to cut another 7,000 to 9,000 words from my manuscript to avoid an automatic “too many words” deletion at the hands of prospective agents looking to work through a...
by Chris Watson | Sep 19, 2020 | Best Practices, Media
Not all writing is just for fun and fiction. Sometimes you want to get another story out there, perhaps your view on some news of the day, community issue, or social concern (as you know, we’re not hurting for those types of topics right now). When trying to get your...
by Chris Watson | May 3, 2020 | The Writing Process
“The wonderful thing about writing is that there is always a blank page waiting. The terrifying thing about writing is that there is always a blank page waiting.” ― J.K. Rowling “You’re having a panic attack. Write your way out of it.” “Thank you so much for your...
by Chris Watson | Jan 4, 2020 | The Writing Process
It’s amazing how you can fall into patterns that aren’t recognizable when you’re writing disconnected chapters over the space of a year or so. It’s only when you see the whole thing from front to back (and new eyes look at it as well) that you discover an unfortunate...
by Chris Watson | Jun 7, 2019 | The Writing Process
OK, here’s how the retreat wrapped up Days: 6 with the first one really spent figuring out how I was going to organize myself and write during this retreat (harder than it sounds), and 5 focused on serious writing and revision New words written: 25,000+ Words reviewed...
