In the summer retreat I’m teaching, this week, we’ve been focusing on conflict and emotion. I told everyone that while we think we read books for entertainment, that’s only half the reason. The other being emotion. A great story makes you feel an emotion, whether it be joy, anger, fear etc. One easy way to…
For this week, I thought we’d merge the short story and journaling prompt together. Think about a story you read and enjoyed so much that it’s been a keeper in your story collection. For the short story writer, this will get you thinking about what makes a good story and what made you enjoy…
The Hi Susan letters are filling my e-mail so let’s dive into another one. This was sent by Ashley who wrote- I had a bunch of beta readers look at my manuscript and each person had the same comment, my dialogue stinks. Is there anyway I can improve that skill? Absolutely, anything that’s your Achilles’…
Welcome to the first Saturday Seminar. What’s a Saturday Seminar? It’s a post that will focus on improving your writing. One small element that can make a good story, great. This first one will focus on writing with all five senses. One of the biggest challenges for us writers, is figuring out how to transfer what’s…
Here’s today’s guest blogger D.V Stone with why the delete button is a good thing… Shakespeare said in Merchant of Venice, “All that glitters is not gold.” Unfortunately, for an author, neither are all your words. Many people think editing is chasing down grammar and punctuation issues. That’s true, but editing a novel is so…
I’m teaching a class on plotting a novel and while I was putting together notes for the first lesson, something dawned upon me. I shared it with the students and I thought maybe you’d like to hear it too. I always hear people say their biggest problem is plotting but I don’t think that’s always…
Here’s a goal for the upcoming week. Try and get rid of any distractions that take you away from your writing. It could be you spend too much time on social media, watching YouTube, or checking your e-mail. Figure out what it is and make it history.
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…
Say hello to today’s guest blogger, Kathy Otten who offers tips on cutting out extra baggage in our writing… In the same way a driver economizes their gas mileage by condensing trips and monitoring driving habits, as writers we need to do the same with the words we choose to put on paper. During that…
Here’s Mary Winter, today’s guest blogger… When life happens the muse often decides to go on vacation. It can be tough for writers to get back into the swing of things, especially when the pressures of life seem to get in the way. Dealing with financial stresses, job stressors, and family worries can zap you of…
