Ghostwriting and folding egg whites in batter: a tale of two Julia Childs
How do you blend the idealist writer in you with pragmatic demands ofΒ ghostwriting? Kristin Johnson draws inspiration from none other than Julia Child. In […]
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How To Dazzle With Dialogue
Screenplay writer Kristin Johnson offers five key principles of dialogue, with an example of all five from the movie “Steve Jobs”. On February 9 I […]
What Words With Friends can teach you about writing
If you plan to procrastinate, you might as well do so with something to challenge your inner wordmaster. Neurolinguistics professor Alice Howland (Julianne Moore) played […]
Are You A Writing Hoarder?
We all know what hoarding is, but have you ever heard about writing hoarders? Digital hoarding is “a thing”. Haley Cue of XoJane.com writes: Technology […]
Top Memorable Writers Conference Moments
Kristin Johnson, our writers conference junkie, reports from the Southern California Writers Conference. Once again I’m packing manuscripts, new business cards and prose in need […]
Story packing: Ara Grigorianβs Finding the Story Beats workshop (spoilers)
There is both an art and a science to setting the pace of your novel. Here is what Kristin learned at the Story Beats Workshop […]
8 Must-Have Items to Pack for a Writers Conference
Kristin is off to the Santa Barbara Writers Conference, and – ooh, look what she’s packing! It’s that time of year. To quote Alice Cooper, […]
The Best Worst Thing That Ever Happened
Every hero faces that moment when they are cursed – The Worst Possible Thing happens. It is upon the ruins of that curse that the […]
Meeting your writing muse on the mountain
The exhilaration of writing is met with the fear of leaping into uncertainty. Listen to your muse and jump when she says to. Marvin V. […]
Writers Family Holiday Bingo
Are you a writer, stressed about facing the family over the Holidays?Β We have instant stress relief for you in the form of Writers’ Family […]
Historical Writing Comes Alive at the Santa Barbara Writers Conference
“Please turn off your cell phones. We are going back into the past.”Β Let’s take a glimpse of how historical fiction is crafted, by some […]
Maile Meloy Addresses the Santa Barbara Writers Conference
Kristin Johnson reports live from the Santa Barbara Writers Conference on speaker Maile Meloy’s keynote address. Your humble correspondent had a full first day at […]
Being Uncertain Means You’re Alive
Client-ghostwriter collaboration is like courtship. It always starts off with uncertainty, then subsides when you slide into that rhythm of collaboration. In listening to The […]
Black Eye Monday: Batman and Superman “Reuse to Vacate” Captain America
Proofread.Β Proofread. Proofread.Β Kristin Johnson doesn’t want to know what “Reuse to Vacate” might mean. The above headline might sound like a sentence from a […]