Tell a non-writer you’re an author and the first question out of their mouth is usually, where do you get your ideas? Sometimes it’s a puzzle for writers too. What happens when the story idea bank runs dry? When I began writing, one major issue I had was one too many story ideas. They’d…
Author: This Writer's Life
Wednesday Writing Prompts-Lighthouse
For this week’s prompt let’s get into a summer mood and thinking about beaches and the sea and focus on a lighthouse. Does your character see one while out at sea? Are they lost at sea? Are they visiting an old lighthouse…maybe they’re returning to one they visited at a child. Maybe it’s a lighthouse…
Rory’s Story Cubes
About five years ago I wandered into a store that sold ‘brainy games’ and stumbled upon something I knew was perfect for me, the writer. The game is Rory’s Story Cubes and if you’ve ever worried you’ll run out of ideas for new stories then you definitely should check them out. With the roll…
Monday Motivation-One Day and One Chapter
They say if you have a big project and it seems overwhelming, break it down. Writing a book can be overwhelming especially when it’s your first try. Sometimes you start out with great motivation but then it disappears. Don’t think about writing a whole book each time you sit down. Think about writing one chapter….
Friday Ramblings From An Author-Take It Slow Week
It seems like it’s been an odd week because it had a holiday sandwiched in the middle of it. I almost forgot that today was Friday. I spent a good part of the day outside working on upcoming projects. One of those is finally deciding what to do with a site I sort of…
Conflict and Emotion-Keys to A Great Story(and getting published)
Thank you for your submission but we’re sorry it’s not suitable for us… On my journey to becoming a published author, receiving letters with that opening line became a weekly event. Sometimes I’d sit down and cry while other times I’d just get angry. These are great characters I’d tell myself. Are all these…
Wednesday Writing Prompts-Team Player
Whether you’re watching the World Cup games or not I thought this might be a fun writing prompt. You have a dream that suddenly you’re on a team in a crucial game and about to take corner kick. If this is a good dream then maybe you’re a top notch player and about to save the…
Five Tips for Improving Your Synopsis
One thing lots of writers struggle with is writing a synopsis. It’s a necessary evil because most of the time it’s all publishers will let you submit. They base their first decision on how well you’ve done conveying your sometimes 70,000 plus word story into two or three pages. I’ve been teaching a class…
Monday Motivation-They Were Once Like Me
One day during my struggling writer years, I walked out to the mailbox and had not one, but three rejection letters sitting there. After opening them, and having a good cry, I thought about one thing. No writer begins their career (well, there might be a few lucky ones), with a yes on their…
Friday Ramblings From An Author-We Made it to 500!
I was going to say it’s so hot today that you could fry an egg on the sidewalk but that would be a cliche and I’m a writer and should be able to come up with something better. However, my mind’s a blank right now. Thank you to this week’s guest blogger. Many of…