When I return a manuscript evaluation to a writer, I include a developmental edit on the opening chapters, line by line, alongside the high-level assessment. And every time I hit “send” on that feedback, I get anxious because I know what’s about to happen on the other end. A writer opens that document and sees
On book coaching and trusting your gut amidst the industry’s struggle with AI You may’ve heard, earlier this year, how the previously self-published book Shy Girl was picked up by a traditional publisher in an impressive deal before being canceled after accusations of AI use. More recently, a crime novel from a debut author sold
Sunday night I watched Scott Pelley interview director Christopher Nolan on 60 Minutes about The Odyssey that opens on July 17. At one point Pelley considers the grandiose epic movies and complex storylines Nolan’s known for, and the sheer number of people involved to bring them into reality. The following exchange really stood out to
For anyone who’s spent a lot of time here in the Lowcountry of South Carolina, you’re familiar with pluff mud. It’s the thick, organic sludge of the salt marsh, the structure of the serpentine waterways that make our part of the coast so unique. (It’s also how we could tell from the opening scenes of
There’s a particular kind of stuck that writers don’t talk about enough. Not writer’s block, which is a different beast entirely… and we writers talk about that. All. The. Time. I’m referring to the feeling you get when you know something’s not working. The pacing drags in scene seven. And scene nine. And all of
