He got up and sat on the edge of the bedstead with his back to the window. “It’s better not to sleep at all,” he decided. There was a cold damp draught from the window, however; without getting up he drew the blanket over him and wrapped himself in it. He was not thinking of anything and did not want to think. But one image rose after another, incoherent scraps of thought without beginning or end passed through his mind. He sank into drowsiness. Perhaps the cold, or the dampness, or the dark, or the wind that howled under the window and tossed the trees roused a sort of persistent craving for the fantastic. He kept dwelling on images of flowers, he fancied a charming flower garden, a bright, warm, almost hot day, a holiday—Trinity day. A fine, sumptuous country cottage in the English taste overgrown with fragrant flowers, with flower beds going round the house; the porch, wreathed in climbers, was surrounded with beds of roses. A light, cool staircase, carpeted with rich rugs, was decorated with rare plants in china pots. He noticed particularly in the windows nosegays of tender, white, heavily fragrant narcissus bending over their bright, green, thick long stalks. He was reluctant to move away from them, but he went up the stairs and came into a large, high drawing-room and again everywhere—at the windows, the doors on to the balcony, and on the balcony itself—were flowers. The floors were strewn with freshly-cut fragrant hay, the windows were open, a fresh, cool, light air came into the room. The birds were chirruping under the window, and in the middle of the room, on a table covered with a white satin shroud, stood a coffin. The coffin was covered with white silk and edged with a thick white frill; wreaths of flowers surrounded it on all sides. Among the flowers lay a girl in a white muslin dress, with her arms crossed and pressed on her bosom, as though carved out of marble. But her loose fair hair was wet; there was a wreath of roses on her head. The stern and already rigid profile of her face looked as though chiselled of marble too, and the smile on her pale lips was full of an immense unchildish misery and sorrowful appeal. Svidrigaïlov knew that girl; there was no holy image, no burning candle beside the coffin; no sound of prayers: the girl had drowned herself. She was only fourteen, but her heart was broken. And she had destroyed herself, crushed by an insult that had appalled and amazed that childish soul, had smirched that angel purity with unmerited disgrace and torn from her a last scream of despair, unheeded and brutally disregarded, on a dark night in the cold and wet while the wind howled
The Blog
100+ Query Letter Examples (That Got Authors an Agent) 
In preparation for this post, I read query letters until my brain went numb. I looked for the letters marked “successful” — those that garnered agent’s attention. After days of reading, certain constants emerged. A successful query often includes a combo of: A strong voice Suspense Delightful characters References (to known authors or one’s own […]
Read More 7 Ways to Use Foreign Languages in Your Fiction One of the greatest strengths of novels is their ability to include the voices of a wide cast of characters. However, if these characters speak different languages from the one you are writing in, you end up with a dilemma: How do you handle other languages within your fiction? When writing multi-lingual scenes, you have […]
Read More 5 Steps to Write a Young Adult Novel Young Adult novels, or YA, has been spiking in popularity. According to Publisher’s Weekly, sales of Young Adult novels rose by 18.6% between 2020 and 2021 despite the pandemic. In addition to being an incredibly fun and innovative genre to write in, YA books can be easier to publish. Once published, they can be more […]
Read More 7 Steps to Writing a Smart Mystery Mystery fiction is a plot-driven genre. Because of this, both plot and character must be handled differently in mysteries than in literary fiction. This does not mean that character—or any other element of fiction—can be neglected in a mystery story. Nor does it mean that a formulaic plot is enough to “drive” a mystery story. […]
Read More 8 Steps to Revise Your Novel (Without Losing its Essence) Revision is painful. When I sit down to revise, I find I would rather be doing anything else: scrubbing the toilet, doing taxes, scooping my own eyeballs out with a spoon — whatever. Anything to avoid the act of revisiting the first draft. I dread revision because it’s an overwhelming process. There’s so much to […]
Read More 9 Ways Writers Can Use NFTs What are NFTs? NFTs are digital collectibles. If you remember collecting baseball cards when you were a kid, an NFT is a digital version of that card. You can also have art NFTs, video NFTs, music NFTs, and, of course, book NFTs. It’s just a digital file with the ownership recorded in the blockchain. NFTs […]
Read More How to Master Worldbuilding: A Guide to Science Fiction and Fantasy From Lord of the Rings to Star Wars, across sci-fi and fantasy, good worldbuilding is what makes genre fiction stand out. Well-constructed worlds are legendary—they capture audience’s imaginations, and they make readers want to live in the story forever. What would Terry Pratchett’s Discworld series be without the Discworld itself? What would The Wizard of […]
Read More 7 Steps to Write Engaging Historical Fiction While science fiction is often set in the future, historical fiction is set in the distant past. Just like sci-fi, historical fiction authors must develop genre-specific techniques to create stories set in a different time period. In this post you’ll learn how to research historical fiction, create believable characters, create authentic settings, and avoid common […]
Read More 40+ Writing Podcasts To Teach and Inspire I love podcasts for writers. Why? Because I can learn about my favorite author’s writing process while I’m folding towels, and get great advice about creating characters while commuting. Below I’ve categorized my favorite 42 podcasts for writers into five categories: Writing Craft The Business of Writing Revising and Editing Genre Podcasts Author Interviews I’ve […]
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