The other day I was searching a site that had quotes by famous authors. This one by Ernest Hemingway jumped out at me… Write Drunk Edit Sober Maybe he intended us to take that literally, maybe not. Either way, he summed up the writing process perfectly. I always tell my students if there’s only one…
Category: Writing How Tos
How to Live a Writer’s Life
Say hello to today’s guest blogger Jeanne Oates Estridge who has some tips about living the writing life…. 1) Open yourself to every experience that comes along. Play soccer. Work in a commercial kitchen. Go fly fishing. Hunt for diamonds. Try exotic foods. Your characters are going to need lots and lots of interesting experiences…
How To Recharge Your Story
If you’re anything like me, you have one (okay, more than one), story sitting on your computer that you started and never finished. I’ve lost count how many I’ve had in that suspended state. Not all of them have gone on to be completed, but a lot have. I thought I’d share with you five…
Monday Motivation-I Want To Be A Writer
This is one of my favorite quotes that I really believe in. This week, say the words I want to be a writer. Say it out loud, write it someplace you’ll see it every day. Tell your best friend or even share it on social media. Cast it out into the universe, continue to believe…
Books are Written One Word at a Time
Say hello to this week’s guest blogger, Kimberly Packard… All writers have had a similar version of a dream. It starts when your eyes flutter open when the sun kisses your face. You stretch and sit up and grab your journal, because you dreamt of the perfect plot point for the story you’re working on….
Reviews…it’s why getting published is an uphill battle
I’m slowly making my way through the many books I have stored on my Kindle. Some of them I’ve purchased while others have been free ones. Before I hit the buy with one click button at Amazon, I check out the look inside feature and read the first couple of pages. Most of the…
Change the Plot
I had a last minute guest blogger cancellation so not as to go a Thursday without a post, I thought I’d share with you one of the exercises from my Writing Prompts book. This is from the chapter called Change the Plot Here’s the scenario and all you have to change the outcome- Your character is…
Hi Susan, I’m Out of Ideas, Help!
It’s time for another Hi Susan, and this question came from Penny… I’ve been writing and writing and I never thought I’d run out of plot ideas but I have. Does that mean I’m not supposed to be a writer? My answer to Penny, you are supposed to be a writer. All of us…
Journaling with Daryl Devore
Welcome back Daryl who’s today’s guest blogger and here to tell us all about keeping a journal… A journal. A notebook. Legal pad. Composition book. All of these are blank pages waiting for a writer to fill them with amazing prose or just random chaotic thoughts. They are also one of the tricks of a…
Discourse, Dialogue, Monologue, Soliloquy
Welcome today’s guest blogger, AB Plum who has lots of tips about writing great dialogue… “I talk, ergo I am.” Pardon the paraphrase, but it reinforces for me that no literary device in fiction accomplishes more than dialogue. Good, well-written dialogue can: Move the plot forward Provide info about the speaker Give insight into the…