How to Make Your Characters Talk

Plus the strike continues and TONS of writing resources!

*For writing links and resources, scroll down*

“Blah, blah, blah,” she said

It’s ready! My Dialogue Masterclass: Online Lessons and Exercises to Help You Master the Craft of Dialogue. I’ve sent Session 1: Grammar & Style to everyone. Sessions 2 and 3 will be delivered to paid subscribers next week and the week after.

• Session 1: Grammar and Style. Learn about grammar, punctuation, clarity, speaker tags and action, and how to write dialogue like a playwright. 

• Session 2: How Dialogue Differs from Real Speech. Learn how to write crisp dialogue that sounds real and has purpose. Plus, how to handle dialect, slang, and profanity. 

• Session 3: Improving Your Dialogue. Learn how to write dialogue that increases tension, reveals character, and moves your reader to tears (or laughter). (Contains TONS of examples from authors who write excellent dialogue.)

And don’t forget that paid subscribers have access to my entire library of do-it-on-your-own-time courses, including:

• Cultivating a Regular Writing Practice

• Getting Started on Your Novel

• Souped-Up Suspense: How to Write a Super-Twisty Mystery, Thriller, or Suspense Novel

• How to Find the Right Literary Agent (and Survive the Query Trenches) (a video)

Let me know if you have questions!

Here’s a pic of me and my husband, taken by my three-year-old, who had just stolen my phone.

Write Your Novel with Confidence (and Suspense!)

Don’t miss my talk this Saturday on how to increase the suspense in your writing. It’s part of the Be A Bestseller 4.0: Write Your Novel with Confidence interview series. From now until January 27, receive two videos a day on the craft and business of writing, all for free. Sign up today so you’ll be sure to receive my talk this weekend.

Publishing with Harper Collins…

So far I’m sticking with my New Years resolution of attending more author events. Last night I went to H Street in DC to the indie bookstore Solid State Books to see Dan Kois in conversation with the hilarious Alexandra Petri as they discussed Dan’s debut novel, Vintage Contemporaries.

I will admit that I knew almost nothing about Dan or Alexandra before attending this event, but I left the bookstore fans of them both, and cradling a hardcopy of his novel.

Vintage Contemporaries was published by Harper Collins, and he talked last night about his complicated feelings — publishing a novel (that is partially about inequities in the publishing business), while the workers of his publisher are currently on strike. He wants to support the strike, but also, you know, he wants to sell his book. As he says in his recent Slate article:

Isn’t the success of my book also success for a company that’s currently behaving in a way I can’t agree with? Should I be withholding my labor and refusing to promote my book entirely?

The short answer is no, but the long answer is, this whole thing sucks. At least there’s this Bookshop.org affiliate page where you can buy Harper Collins books while also contributing to the union’s strike fund. (The workers haven’t gotten paid for two months now, and they weren’t getting paid much to begin with.) Want to learn more about the Harper Collins strike? Ann Helen Peterson’s got you covered.

Here’s to going into the city, attending a live event, and buying a book from a hip indie bookstore. I’m living the dream.

Writing News & Resources

For All Writers:

• The NYC Midnight Short Story Challenge is kicking off on January 20. One week to write a story based on a randomly-chosen assignment. If you’re a winner, move on to the next round (there are three in all). Get feedback from the judges at every round, and gain confidence in your own creativity!

• Be a Bestseller 4.0: Writer Your Novel with Confidence is a free online interview series running from now until January 27 with 20+ talks about the craft and business of writing. Register for free — listen at your leisure!

• Looking for a critique partner? Book Coach Julie Artz will find you the perfect person with her free CP Meet Cute. Fill out the matchmaker survey by February 7 and be paired with potential critique partners on Valentines Day!

• For the entire month of February, StoryStudio Chicago is offering Pub Crawl: An Online Publishing Intensive featuring panels and classes every weeknight that you can watch live or later. And at the end the month are optional pitch sessions. The whole thing is $265, minus the pitches, and there are scholarships available.

• For a special issue, The Rambling is inviting essays (1500-2000 words) that document & reflect on your experiences re-reading a favorite or formative book from your youth. Deadline is February 3, 2023. Send submissions to theramblingonline@gmail.com.

• The Lucy Cavendish Fiction Prize is now open — deadline is February 8, 2023. The Prize is for a novel by a woman over the age of 18 that marries literary merit with unputdownability. 

• Live in the DC area? Come join me at The Writer’s Center for an in-person workshop class on writing mystery/thriller/suspense/horror. Each week we will look at how to dial up suspense using an element of craft. Plus in-class writing exercises and opportunities to workshop your pages. 5 Saturdays: February 4 - March 4; 10am-noon.

• Apply for the 2023 Kurt Brown WC&C Scholarships. Three winners will receive $500 to help them attend the WC&C event of their choice. Winners plus six finalists will also receive a free one-year AWP membership. Applications are open through March 31,2023.

For KidLit Writers:

• Who else is SUPER excited for the film adaptation of Judy Blume’s classic, Are You There God, It’s Me, Margaret, starring Rachel McAdams, Kathy Bates, and Abby Ryder Fortson as Margaret. Release date: April 28. My calendar is already marked.

• From Bitsy Kemper’s blog: over 75 publishers accepting unsolicited picture book manuscripts — updated January 2023!

• Upcoming Kidlit Workshops (online and in-person) from The Highlights Foundation. Everything from Picture Books to YA!

• Check out this incredible list of upcoming events for KidLit writers!

• SCBWI (The Society for Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators) will hold their annual conference in person in New York City February 10-12. They will also have a virtual conference on February 25.

For Querying Writers:

• NY Book Editors is now offering a Literary Agent Alert service. 2-week free trial followed by $10 a month. Is it worth it? I’m not sure — if you try it, let me know!

• The Manuscript Academy is offering a 3-day online Submission Strategy Workshop, January 24-26, about polishing your query and first pages, researching agents, interpreting rejections, and making a submission plan. I took this workshop a little over a year ago and found it very helpful. And, at $39.99, the price is definitely right!

• All registered AWP conference attendees, both in-person and virtual, are eligible to submit a sample of their work to the 2023 Writer to Agent program to be reviewed by over twenty agents at five excellent literary agencies. If an agent is interested, they will contact you to set up a meeting during #AWP23. The deadline to submit your query letter and writing sample is Thursday, February 9, 2023 at 11:59 p.m. ET.

• The Revise & Resubmit (#RevPit) annual contest begins March 16. Win feedback and edits on your full manuscript from professional editors.

• Check out my guest post on Jane Freidman’s blog: What I Learned from 90 Queries: How I Changed My Query Letter and Opening Pages to Get More Full Requests.

• Check out my video: How to Find the Right Literary Agent and my article: What Your Query Rejections Are Telling You

• Every Friday, Operation Awesome offers one free query critique through their #QueryFriday contest.

• Here’s an insanely comprehensive spreadsheet of successful queries. Learn the details and read the actual query letters for books that got agent representation.

• I don’t know what’s going on with Twitter these days, but it’s still functioning. I assume Twitter pitch contests will continue to happen unless I hear otherwise. If you’re still on Twitter, it certainly doesn’t hurt to try. (After all, I found my agent through a Twitter pitch party. I am now an official success story.) So mark your calendar for these upcoming Twitter pitch parties. And be sure to read my article 13 Things to Know About Twitter Pitch Events.

  • Jan 25, 2023: #IWSGpit for all ages and genres

  • Jan 26, 2023: #KidLitPit for Picture Books through Young Adult

  • Feb 16 #PBPitch for Picture Books

• Savvy Authors will sponsor their annual Sweetheart Pitchfest Feb. 15-17. This free event is for writers of all genres with a completed manuscript who are looking for an agent or editor. Register for free to learn more.

Writing Conferences

• Writers Digest is offering a Novel Writing Virtual Conference January 28-29 with webinars and a query critique. They are also offering a virtual conference for romance writers February 18-19 and a virtual conference for mystery/thriller writers March 25-26.

• The Writing Day Workshop “How to Get Published” Conferences will held both online and in person this year. I attended one of these conferences in person a few years ago, and I thought it was fantastic. I can’t vouch for the virtual version, but there are some benefits: recorded classes, no travel expenses, attend in your comfy pants. Plus, you can sign up for Zoom pitch sessions with agents for $29 a piece. Check out the upcoming conferences: 

  • Boston Writing Workshop: Feb. 3-4, 2023 (online only)

  • Chesapeake Writing Workshop (online only)

  • Alabama Writing Workshop: March 10, 2023 (in-person in Birmingham)

  • Atlanta Writing Workshop: March 11, 2023 (in-person)

  • Writers Conference of St. Louis: March 11, 2023 (in-person)

  • Cincinnati Writing Workshop: March 11, 2023 (in-person)

  • Minnesota Writing Workshop: March 25, 2023 (in-person in St. Paul)

• AWP Conference (Association of Writers and Writing Programs) will be held in March 8-11, 2023 in Seattle.

  • All registered AWP conference attendees, both in-person and virtual, are eligible to submit a sample of their work to the 2023 Writer to Agent programto be reviewed by over twenty agents at five excellent literary agencies. If an agent is interested, they will contact you to set up a meeting during #AWP23. The deadline to submit your query letter and writing sample is Thursday, February 9, 2023 at 11:59 p.m. ET.

  • Go to AWP for Free! Have your registration cost waived when you agree to work a four-hour shift at the conference. Applications are now open for work-exchange.

• SCBWI (The Society for Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators) will hold their annual conference in person in New York City February 10-12. They will also have a virtual conference on February 25.

• The San Miguel Writer’s Conference and Literary Festival will be held Feb. 13-17 in beautiful San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. No need to speak Spanish (though it certainly helps).

• New York Write to Pitch Conference 2023 will be held in NYC March 16-19.

• The 34th Annual California Creative Writers Conference will be held March 3-5, 2023 in Culver City. Presentations, workshops, panels, and one-on-one pitch meetings. Discounts available.

• The Washington Writers Conference will be held in Bethesda, MD May 12-13.

  • Early Bird tickets ($369) include three agent-pitch sessions and are available through Mar. 31, 2023.

• For more writing conferences, check out this list or this list of 19 Writing Conferences for Emerging and Established Writers.