Margie Lawson I am uber-impressed with the WITS blog and the WITS bloggers. I’m always honored to be a guest. Thank you!  Most writers know to avoid clichés. Every basic how-to book for writers includes a section on avoiding clichés. Those experts refer to clichés as lazy writing. So do I. Clichés represent weak writing. […]

Margie Lawson and Darynda Jones Darynda Jones’ writing is so fun, so fresh, you might think she doesn’t use much of her right brain logic. But she does. Read on, and you’ll learn why and how her right brain rockets her to best seller success. From Darynda Jones: So, yeah, I get teased. Even today, […]

Margie Lawson If you wish review the rule that started it all... Margie-Rule #1: Never Take Any Word for Granted. Or read the whole series! Are you an NCIS fan? A Jethro Gibbs fan? A Mark Harmon fan? If you said YES, you know Jethro Gibbs has rules. Smart rules. I wanted smart rules too. Margie’s Rule […]

 Margie Lawson How often do you get fresh…on the page? Writers are beyond crazy busy getting their story on the page, developing goal-motivation-conflict, deepening characterization, sharing subtext with body language and dialogue cues, making choreography work, as well as covering the 3756 other dynamics they need to consider to make their writing strong. Sometimes writers […]

Margie Lawson I’ve talked to dozens of agents and editors about what makes them stop reading submissions. We’ve chatted on planes and on yachts, in several countries, on several continents. We’ve chatted at luncheons and dinners and late nights in bars. Some agents and editors shared general ideas regarding why they quit reading. They said […]