REVIEW Kristen Lamb Blog

This month, Reviews' Editor Natalie Yates shares the benefits of subscribing to Kristen Lamb's blog

Do you ever find yourself subscribing to a blog, then bemoaning the numerous emails appearing from said blog in your inbox? Yes, I’ve done that too. But, not so with Kristen Lamb. That’s why this month, I thought it’d make a change to review a blog.

Kristen’s blogs appear usually once a week in your inbox and, unlike many others that I’ve subscribed to in the past, hers appears in full in the body of the email, as opposed to the first few lines and then ‘click here’ to read the rest. For those of us who are short of time (every writer I know) and are, as I often am, in full procrastination mode, this is a bonus. As silly and, possibly, as ignorant as it may sound, sometimes I just haven’t got the time or the inclination to ‘click here and load another page to continue reading.’ 

I am also quite a visual learner and just love the pictures that Kristen throws into her blog to break up the text. As an example, from her recent blog Fatal Flaws: Why Your Story is Falling Apart & How to Fix It, here is the fabulous Will Ferrell’s anchorman who Kristen used to stress the importance of casting your characters.

And another – who will be instantly recognisable to regular gif users – used to portray the reaction you want to avoid when writing your log-line.

Kristen has helped many writers over the years and often she finds that they 

believe they have a finished novel, but what they really have is 80,000-100,000 words. Just because we have a lot of words doesn’t mean we have a novel.

Kristen’s blogs cover a wide range of issues and barriers when writing. To give an example, when searching through my outlook account, I found these:

Time as a Literary Device: Flashbacks vs Non-Linear Structure

The Log-Line: Can You Pitch Your Story in One Sentence?

DysFUNctional: World-Building from Orwell to Apocalypse

Kristen also runs on-line classes, which I can’t vouch for, but if the content is anything like her blog posts, then I’m sure they’d be a worthwhile investment. Details can be found on her webpage authorkristenlamb.com. As well as being a fiction and non-fiction author, Kristen also runs wanatribe.com (WANA = We Are Not Alone), a social network for all the creative geniuses out there needing help, support and love and has helped tens of thousands of writers achieve success with social media.

So, what are you waiting for? Maybe Kristen can help you write, not just 40,000-100,000 words, but an actual novel that perhaps someday will sit on an actual shelf in an actual bookshop. 

* Header image: Sara Netherway www.saranetherway.co.uk

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WORDS & PICTURES NEEDS YOU!

W&P is looking for contributors to our REVIEW feature. If you would like to write a review on a writing or illustration resource please contact Natalie Yates or Claire Watts at editor@britishscbwi.org

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Natalie is a REVIEW editor for W&P. When she's not working as a Teaching Assistant, she writes for YA. You can find her occasionally blogging and more often on Twitter.