NO matter what genre a writer specializes in – suspense or fantasy, plays or picture books – they all have something in common: devotion to craft. Writing craft serves as a catchall for the elements involved in creating a story. We bake craft into every decision we make as writers, and yet so few hard-and-fast rules exist to guide us. Craft becomes what you make of it, from developing characters to refining a turn of phrase to speeding up the pace of a critical scene. You can hone your craft for decades and still have things to learn. Yet you can also bask in the momentary contentment of switching out an adverb for an adjective to make a sentence sing.
We wanted to learn from authors who excel at their craft, so we reached out to 10 of them at varying points in their careers. One just published her first book; a couple recently switched gears to new genres; several have written for decades. Each imparted hard-earned lessons from their own careers to help beginning to experienced writers.
MYSTERY
Kellye Garrett, a veteran TV writer, married her Hollywood insider knowledge with a knack for writing witty women in the critical and commercial hits Hollywood Homicide and Hollywood Ending. Her newest book (Like a Sister) branches from mystery to thriller territory. Despite all her success, she says writing has never come easy to her; her email signature for the past 15 years has been the Dorothy Parker quote, “I hate writing. I love having written.” Garrett excels at humor, from zingy one-liners to laugh-out-loud interior dialogues that build depth to her characters.
Garrett’s secret to steady improvement
“I’ve taken classes. I’ve taught classes. I’ve been a mentee in the Pitch Wars program. I’ve been a multi-time mentor in Pitch Wars. I’ve written books. I’ve read books – both
