Martha Conway

Author Website

  • Author
  • Books
    • The Physician’s Daughter
    • The Underground River
      • Foreign Editions
      • The Floating Theatre (UK)
    • Sugarland
    • Thieving Forest
    • 12 Bliss Street
  • News & Appearances
  • Book Groups
  • Contact

May 08 2017

The Cold Open – Get Scary!

YOU DON’T HAVE TO BE Stephen King to start your narrative with something scary. You don’t even have to be writing a horror story. Maybe you just want to grab your reader’s attention right away. Starting with a scary scene or description not only grabs a reader’s emotion—which is a wonderful way to keep them…

Written by Martha Conway · Categorized: Uncategorized · Tagged: artist, chapter one, cold open, craft, creative writing, creativity, fiction, historical fiction, historical novels, how to write the first chapter, how to write well, publishing, revision, stephen king, writing craft, writing good books, writing rules

Oct 08 2016

The Cold Open – in media res

STARTING A NOVEL, writing that very first sentence, is as exhilarating and intimidating as riding a bicycle for the first time without training wheels. Many new writers think they need to explain a good deal more than they need to explain. They think that the first chapter is about laying a foundation so that the…

Written by Martha Conway · Categorized: Uncategorized · Tagged: artist, chapter one, craft, creative writing, creativity, drama, fiction, fiction writing, good books, historical fiction, historical novels, how to write the first chapter, in media res, Ohio River, reading, underground railroad, writing craft, writing rules

Sep 28 2015

Daydreaming Your Novel

A PARENT IN MY child’s school recently forwarded me an 11-minute video about skills we’ll need for the 21st century. What really stuck with me was the bit about creativity: “Most creative thoughts happen when your mind is left to wander: daydreaming; doing the dishes; exercising.” This rang true for me. My last novel, Thieving Forest, had…

Written by Martha Conway · Categorized: Uncategorized · Tagged: artist, craft, creativity, publishing, reading, self-publishing, Thieving Forest, writers, writing

Copyright © 2023 Martha Conway · Site Designed by Ilsa Brink