Tag Archives: the biz

A Line Around the Outer Edge

March 7, 2010 – 10:33 am

“Outline - 1) A line showing the shape or boundary of something; 2) A statement or summary of the chief facts about something; 3) A sketch containing lines but no shading” - Oxford American Dictionary
If you want to be a professional novelist, odds are that sooner or later, you’re going to write an outline. In [...]

By pcwrede | Posted in Writing | Also tagged , | Comments (4)

Nothing’s sure but…

March 3, 2010 – 9:27 am

This is the time of year when I run across folks - newly published writers, generally - who have forgotten one of the most basic facts about their writing careers, and who are about to pay a painful price.
What fact? The fact that they’re running a business, and they’re going to have to pay taxes on [...]

By pcwrede | Posted in Writing | Comments (12)

Name it…what?

January 12, 2010 – 11:29 am

If people would ask writers where they get their titles, instead of where they get their ideas, they’d probably get a lot more interesting answers much of the time.
In my experience, it’s really difficult for most writers to articulate exactly where they got the idea for something (except in those few cases where it’s blindingly [...]

By pcwrede | Posted in Writing | Also tagged , | Comments (11)

In Praise of Editors

November 19, 2009 – 11:25 am

Over the years, I have worked with a lot of editors myself, and watched a lot of my friends work with others. Some have been better than others; some have just been a better fit than others. But they all do pretty much the same thankless, undervalued, and misunderstood job…which is most especially misunderstood by [...]

By pcwrede | Posted in General, Writing | Also tagged , | Comments (6)

Wrede’s Rules of Writing Income

October 10, 2009 – 8:46 pm

One of the things nobody ever mentioned to me when I was getting started as a writer was that if I ever got to be a full-time professional, I was going to be, in essence, a self-employed businessperson, with all the troubles and responsibilities (assorted taxes, health insurance, FICA, record-keeping) that go along with running [...]

By pcwrede | Posted in Writing | Also tagged | Comments (4)