The Chopping Blog

Mysteries look backward, while thrillers look forward.

Le Guin shaped the YA fantasy genre while never quite belonging to it. She proved that young readers can handle complexity and ambiguity, and that a children’s story can be rich in language and ideas.

Nine writers joined us at Linwood House for a week of writing, workshops, and (of course) Code Names.

Don't make agents cry for all the wrong reasons...

A big congrats to our client Art Maerlender on the publication of his memoir!

Our brains are incredibly powerful tools, but they’re like muscles: they only stay strong when we keep using them.

Listen to your characters, follow them, rather than forcing them to follow you. Get to know them and let them tell you what they’re planning rather than the other way around. 

This will be the third year in a row that I have made a strange New Year’s resolution: I plan to get 100 rejections this year.

Put the screen down and time reappears. For writers, that really matters. Thinking needs space. Planning needs quiet. Writing needs attention. Reading needs long stretches without interruption.

Their goal, naturally, is to get money from you. As for your book’s future? They couldn’t care less.  

Don’t be afraid to find out that something isn’t working. It’s rare to stick the landing on your first draft.

In a genre as established as mystery, it’s not easy to do something new.