Wow, okay. So NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) begins exactly a week from today. Have you figured out your plot? Eh, don’t worry, neither have I. Besides, as they say, “no plot, no problem.” Right? NaNo is the time to write with “literary abandon,” forget the rules, and just write. Right? Well. . . The […]
GMC, Wonder Woman, and Unlocking Your NaNoWriMo Story Read More »
~ By Samanthya Wyatt Our stories cover a wide range of time periods, but the one thing profoundly rooted in each is family—whether it is a large family or no family members at all. The heart of our stories come from deep emotion concerning family ties. This can be the loss of a family member, a
~ By Jeff Salter Sometimes when we’re writing and have a particular scene going, we realize that all kinds of things could happen AFTER that initial scene set-up. ~ The following actually occurred, in early July, four years ago. Sometimes you see things that make you wish you hadn’t. My wife and I were
Setting the Scene… Which Suddenly CHANGES Read More »
~ By Susan Meier Note: This post originally appeared here. Anybody can write a book. All you’ve got to do is think up a plot, give your characters some arcs, divide it into scenes and get it into your computer, and eventually onto paper. But how many people do you know who really know how to
~ By Kristina Mathews With another celebrity marriage down the tubes, I can’t help but wonder if marriage is even necessary—in books and in real life. I know there are many couples who are perfectly happy just living together. Many couples have an unintentional pregnancy and don’t even consider marriage before the baby comes, sometimes not
Does A Happily Ever After Require Wedding Bells? [REPOST] Read More »
“Great stories happen to those who can tell them.” ~ Ira Glass Happy Friday, everyone! We’re genre writers, which means that the number one thing our readers expect when they pick up one of our books is a great story. Yes, writing exciting settings and using beautiful language is more than the icing on the
On Story – A Chapter Recap Read More »
~ By Susan Meier Hi, I’m Susan Meier, author of over sixty books. I teach online workshops and also at RWA chapter conferences. At one point, I did a Monday Morning blog on the art and craft of writing. This is a blog from that series. What is three-act structure? Simply put, three-act structure is
Three-Act Structure Made Easy ☺ Read More »
~ By Addison James “Tell me a story.” My Vice President said after we spent an hour with a member of the Board of Directors, scrutinizing nearly every digit in a ten page slide deck. Those digits were the result of a very large spreadsheet which I had created which showed our results for last fiscal
Tell Me A Story [REPOST] Read More »
~ By Kristina Mathews With another celebrity marriage down the tubes, I can’t help but wonder if marriage is even necessary—in books and in real life. I know there are many couples who are perfectly happy just living together. Many couples have an unintentional pregnancy and don’t even consider marriage before the baby comes, sometimes
Does A Happily Ever After Require Wedding Bells? Read More »
~ By Sloane B. Collins What helps me “discover” my story? Do I make playlists? Collages? The answer to those questions is YES, all of the above. I struggled for years to finish stories without growing bored from plotting every bit of the books. Until a couple of years ago I decided to let go
What helps me “discover” my story? Do I make playlists? Collages? Read More »
~ By Addison James “Tell me a story.” My Vice President said after we spent an hour with a member of the Board of Directors, scrutinizing nearly every digit in a ten page slide deck. Those digits were the result of a very large spreadsheet which I had created which showed our results for last
