Instructional Archives - John Coyne Books

Letter to a First-Time Peace Corps Writer

December 30, 2025/in Instructional, Peace Corps/by John Coyne

No matter who you are, sitting down to a blank page to try and tell the story of your life can be daunting. But I’m here to reassure you that, as a returned Peace Corps Volunteer, you have a great story to tell. The key question is where to start.

Jacques Barzun, an accomplished writer and historian who taught at Columbia University, wrote that to become a writer you have to convince yourself that you are working in clay, not marble; on paper, not eternal bronze, so let that first sentence be as stupid as it wishes. Just put it down, then another. Your whole first paragraph or first page may have to be guillotined after your piece is finished, but there can be no second paragraph (which contains your true beginning) until you have a first.

Review of How to Write a Novel in 100 Days

July 31, 2014/in Instructional, Writing Fiction/by John Coyne

How to Write a Novel in 100 Days

With Tips About Agents, Editors, Publishers and Self-Publishing

Reviewed by Robert E. Hamilton

If you refuse encouragement to “Write your story” as well as a 100-day useful schedule for doing exactly that, put this book aside. “The truth is,” Coyne writes on the first of the unnumbered pages of How to Write a Novel in 100 Days (HWaN), “all writing begins in the human heart.” Coyne’s Peace Corps (Ethiopia, 1962-64) and other professional and personal experiences have made him aware of how many hearts hold untold stories. This book was written to help you “unlock what’s in your heart and write your novel.”

Coyne’s Take on Best-Selling Author James Patterson On “How To Write An Unputdownable Story”

April 30, 2014/in General, Instructional, Writing Fiction/by John Coyne

You have heard of the writer James Patterson. You have, I’m guessing, read at least one of his books. He’s the most popular and prolific writer to come along in the last decade. An estimated one out of every 17 hardcover novels purchased in the United States is his, dwarfing the sales of both Harry Potter and the Twilight vampires. To put it another way, James Patterson’s books account for one out of every 17 hardcover novels purchased in the United States. He is certainly the ‘king’ of summertime beach reading.

The Job of Getting a Job in Publishing

May 16, 2013/in General, Instructional, Publishing/by John Coyne

Castles in the air need solid foundations. Every year graduates of MFA programs, returning Peace Corps Volunteers, and people changing careers decide that publishing is for them! They love books and magazines and want to have a line of work that matches their love of literature and language. They just want to sit around and read all day and get paid for it, or so they hope.