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Have you written the Great American Novel?

From The Writer’s Edge blog:

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As writers who have completed books, many of us believe we have written the great American Novel or a nonfiction book that will change the world. And we may have, but the hardest part of being an author is convincing others of your feat. Not that you’ve written a book, but that your book is revolutionary.The Writer’s Edge, May 2010

Romance Writers of America announce finalists

Romance Writers of America® (RWA)  announced the finalists for the 2010 RITA Awards®.

The 2010 RITA honors romance fiction published in 2009. Over 1,000 novels and novellas were judged in 12 categories.

Winners of the awards will be announced July 31st at the RITA and Golden Heart Awards Ceremony to be held at RWA’s 30th Annual National Conference in Nashville, Tennessee.

New Author Workshops for the Week of March 22

Publish and Sell Enterprises is now adding more FREE and paid online courses for authors on self-publishing, book marketing and other topics relevant to writers and authors everywhere.

Here are some of the workshop offerings this week:

Wednesday, March 24, 2010, 1-3 pm EDT: Ebook Formatting and Publishing (PS 204)
Workshop Description
Register now

Thursday, March 25, 2010, 7-9 pm EDT: Using Createspace To Publish Your Book (PS206)
Workshop Description
Register Now

Other offerings include:

1. Creating A Successful Publishing and Marketing Plan (PS201)
2. Understanding Lulu & Createspace (PS202)
3. Ebook Formatting and Publishing (PS 204)
4. Using Lulu To Publish Your Book (PS205)
5. Using Createspace To Publish Your Book (PS206)
6. Optimizing Your Facebook Presence (PS207)

Check out the workshops page at http://www.publishandsell.com/author-workshops/ for more information.

Writing is Similar to Computer Programming

Ok, if you think this idea is off the wall consider this: if a programmer leaves out a single character or adds an extra character, the program will not work as intended.

Writing in essence is the same. If you don’t craft your words, sentences and paragraphs properly, your intended message does not come across.

Programming is a lot easier than writing – it’s exact – XYZ code tells the computer to execute a specific function. The computer does not have an opinion about the code and the code does not have several meanings.

Writing, on the other hand, is more complex. Words have different meanings for different people. The structure of a sentence or paragraph may have one meaning for one person and different meaning for another.

But if the writing has the right flow, the right words and the right structure it is like great poetry. That’s why we hear statements like, “The writing works! The writing pulls you in! I just love the writing!” It is the stuff of the classics and more.

So what exactly is the right stuff – the stuff of classics, the magic of the writing? My take is that the writing communicates universal truths, truths that are common and important to all human beings. The universal appeal of these truths is so powerful that the writing lives on generation after generation, century after century.

More importantly, the writing drips with emotion. Words can stir our deepest hopes and dreams, our imaginations, our inspirations and they let us dance in the joy of the things we love.

It’s not easy getting words to do all those things, but as writers we always try. So if you can get the right “programming” for your words, you will write a classic that will live on and on.

Try doing that with a computer.