In this continuation about world building, I wanted to focus in on a few specifics, as well as the ways in which getting down to the details can actually lead you into a deeper story – both for the sake of your readers’ experience ,and how it can affect your plot, character development So here’s a few suggestions, just to get your imagination rolling. Continue reading
What comes to mind when you think about the editing process? If the mere word “Editing” makes you want to hide under your comforters, or find a boat and sail off the face of the earth, I understand. Or maybe you’re a super planner and love the editing process and have all sorts of handy excel charts mapping your progress.
No matter what your feelings are regarding the editing process, there are tools and tips that can help.
Continue reading
It’s early morning and snow is falling fast and wet outside the warehouse windows. Apart from the whoosh of the occasional car and the steady hum of the ventilation, it is quiet as the green coffee beans wait in burlap sacks for the roaster. She arrives in a wet beanie, cursing cheerfully at Mondays and the weather, and the dusty smell of husks and paper is overtaken by something sweeter curling up through the stale air—the bloom of coffee roasting.* Continue reading
Suspense.
While reading—it keeps us turning the page with sweaty hands.
While writing. . . sometimes it’s just downright a pain.
If I can cause my reader to grow a few extra gray hairs from my writing, I count that a success. *I apologize ahead of time to any of my readers hoping to keep their luscious colorful locks hair.* Here are some of the basics for adding suspense I use.
My novel has been under the knife since February. The goal? 20-30k words, slashed, slaughtered, eliminated forever.
What does that feel like? A bit like this: Princess Bride: To the Pain Continue reading
Writing is hard.
Exhilarating, rewarding, life giving? Absolutely! Sometimes though, it’s just straight up a pain. What is it that separates published authors from the hundreds of thousands of wannabes? I think a little illustration might help.
Recently, I was put through intensive spine shaping therapy due to a back injury. What does that mean? Everyone, including myself, was most curious to know.
There are many ways to begin a story—action, intrigue, mystery, a clever premise—but back story is often not one them.
Opening chapters are like first dates; a feeling of wonder, anticipation, adventure, impulse, curiosity. Perhaps a bit of flirting, letting your date see only what’s appealing, then, the longer you talk, the more you open up. There’s momentum.
Back story, (information pertaining to the story’s plot, character or worlds past) can take away from that momentum. Too much at the wrong time can be like pushing pause on a movie’s climax or a girl who talks to her date about another boy. A turn off.
However! Continue reading
Good writing comes from two things. Lots of reading and lots of writing. There’s just no getting around it. But you hopefully already knew that.
Our Feature Friday author Kim Vandel, recommended writers to “read, read, read.” I used to be one of those types who would find time to write but rarely to read. Then one day, I stumbled upon something one of the most prolific writer, Stephen King, wrote. He said, “If you don’t have time to read, you don’t have time to write.”
When I got serious about writing, I knew I had to surround myself with other writers if my interest was going to become anything beyond the terrible disjointed scenes floating on my computer.
You’re serious about writing too, so let’s go through the practical steps in creating your own writing group. But just in case you’re still not sure if you should do a writing group, I’ll throw out a few reasons why it would be fan-freaking-tastic idea.
I’ve heard writer’s block described or defined in a variety of ways, as well as methods of “getting over” it, so I doubt I’ll be adding much here that is new. But I’ve never been one to blindly follow advice,[1] sometimes (often) to my detriment. And the same practice applies to my writing processes.
The Spinning Pen 