ARCHIVE FOR Books & Reading

Are you finding it hard to write? We live in deeply unsettling times, and it's easy to get distracted by all that's going on in the world. Here's a brief list of ideas to jumpstart your writing and help you get out of your own head for a moment:

1) Apply to a writing contest. Years and years ago, I won a local short story prize, and it gave me the confidence I needed to keep plugging away at my writing

I'm amazed by writers who stop reading in their genre while writing their own books. The majority of them seem to be worried about becoming overly influenced by the voice, themes and even plot of the book they're reading.

Personally, I can't imagine not reading fiction for the many years it takes me to complete a novel. And in terms of being influenced: I'm actively looking for inspiration and ideas. I want to be influenced.

By Katrin Schumann

For those of you reading this who haven't yet published your first book, I'm sure you've dreamed about your book launch. You'll have thought about whether to go big or small, have it at a bookstore, in an event space, bar or library, and who you hope might turn up (maybe even local media!). 

There are a lot of misconceptions out there about launches - both the launch event itself and the "book tour" that happens afterwards. They're a bit like the three martini lunch which used to be common practice and underwritten by your ...

By Katrin Schumann

Last month, feeling unmoored and wanting to build community during self-isolation, I launched something I called #fivefreepages, in which I offered to critique five pages at the beginning of a nonfiction book or novel, free of charge

By Katrin Schumann

I sat down to write this post and have now written four openings and ditched them all.

What do writers need to hear in times like this? How can I be helpful to others when that which binds us--our obsessive love of words, books, writing--is overshadowed so universally by our fear of the unknown? 

Do I tell you how to make lemons out of lemondade?* Do I reveal that I'm writing page after page despite the uncertainty and boredom