I thought now and then we could base a story around a certain emotion. This week it’s fear. What is your character afraid of? It could be fear of flying, public speaking, going to the dentist? Maybe the fear is rational or maybe it’s not. So much you can do with this one. Have…
Author: This Writer's Life
Watching Movies isn’t a Waste of Time…
I should add two words to the title of this post and that’s for writers. Sometimes I know I should be writing but instead I’m searching Netflix and soon I’m watching a movie and time slips away. However, last month I took a different view of time spent away from my writing. I was watching this one movie and…
Friday Ramblings From An Author-The Perfect Weather for Writing
Two words I hate to see in the weather forecast are Polar Vortex. It’s cold, no correct that, it’s friggin’ cold and only going to get colder. When the forecasted high has a negative sign in front of you, you know you don’t want to go outside…well, at least I don’t. I always say look for…
A Chat with Relay Publishing
If you’ve ever thought about writing for a book packager, you might be interested in my chat with Relay Publishing… This Writer’s Life( TWL)-Could you tell us about Relay Publishing, what sort of books you publish and when the company was launched? Relay Publishing (RP)-Relay Publishing was founded in April 2013, and since then has…
Wednesday Writing Prompts-Future World
When it comes to writing prompts, I always think the writer should pick the genre but this week I thought we’d try something different. This time the genre is sci fi. Maybe some of you are already sci fi writers but if not, here’s your chance to wander outside your comfort zone. Here’s a photo and…
Hi Susan-I’m In A Catch 22 Situation-Help!
I thought I’d pick a non-fiction question this time and this one was e-mailed to me from Lee. Hi Susan, I’m trying to become a freelance writer but every time I approach a market they ask to see samples of my previous work but I don’t have any. I feel like writing is the ultimate…
Monday Motivation-We’re All Beginners
I love this quote because it reminds me of one thing. Every time you sit down to write you don’t have to be perfect. Don’t worry if you wrote perfect prose the day before but today’s a different story. Don’t panic if you’ve been staring at a blank page for five minutes…just write anything that comes…
Friday Ramblings From An Author-Keep On Publishing
It’s snowing and it’s cold, cold, cold. Even the deer that roam around the area have cozy- downed in the piles of leaves back the woods…that’s when you know it’s bone chilling cold. A big thank you to guest blogger, Beth for those two great posts. I hope it’s helped you with creating your characters. I’m happy…
Get To Know Your Characters before You Write Your Novel-Part Two
Here’s the second part of Beth’s guest post… Interview Your Characters Imagine one of your characters is sitting across the table from you, sipping a beverage, and looking at you. Keep your story in mind as you ask questions. Interview them and take notes. If you don’t know your story at all yet, all the…
Wednesday Writing Prompts-Mystery Man
When I’m planning these writing prompts, I often think of an idea and then go looking for a photo to accompany it. This week, while doing that, I stumbled across this photo and decided to change the theme of this week’s prompt. I love photos that pull you in because they have some sort of mystery about…