Writer’s block. Some say it exists. Some say it doesn’t; it’s all in your head. Pointedly, both sides are right. Everything about story writing is in your head. Until it moves to your fingers to the rhythm of a swishing pen, or the clickety-clack of keys on a keyboard. Author Peggy Lantz posted about herContinue reading “Advice for when writers struggle”
Category Archives: advice
Going Serial
Some writers start at the beginning of their writing plans and know that they want to write a series. Others have a vague idea. Still others, however, may not realize they are writing a series until either, they near the end of the draft of the first book, or they get feedback and reviews fromContinue reading “Going Serial”
More thoughts on character building
Characters are so crucial to storytelling that there is a lot of advice about how to build them. There’s D&D style charts, and there’s Meyers-Briggs personalities. Some writers use zodiacs, and some use tropes. When you have a trait, or a trope, what can often happen when you get down to the actual writing isContinue reading “More thoughts on character building”
Building Writers’ Resources
You may have noticed a new menu item at the top of the page titled “Resources.” I’m going to populate this area of the site with resources to help writers with some phase of the writing (such as beginnings, middles, and ends), crafting plots, subplots, scenes, and editing, avoiding and fixing info dump, pacing, activeContinue reading “Building Writers’ Resources”
When to type “The End”
(by the way, it’s not actually good manuscript formatting to type “The End” at the end of your manuscript. Yeah. Really.) “How do I end my book?” “Is this a good ending?” “Should I use an epilogue?” I’ve heard these in my writing group numerous times. I’ve heard this from developmental editing clients. And yes,Continue reading “When to type “The End””
Proofreading
Today is National Proofreading Day. I thought I’d talk a bit about what proofreading actually is and where it fits in the process of getting your manuscript ready for readers. Prepublication’s final step The first thing to begin to understand about proofreading is that it is the last editing step before publication. Proofreading is doneContinue reading “Proofreading”
more about story goals
When discussing how long a scene should be, I mentioned a concept called a scene goal. The scene goal is a step toward achieving the overall story goal. The story goal is the main character’s goal. It’s a situation or outcome they want and are convinced they need in order to be happy. There canContinue reading “more about story goals”
Loose ends
In the same vein as several previous articles, this week I’m going to discuss getting your draft manuscript (possibly the one you worked on for NaNoWriMo just past) ready for other eyes. This might be when you are self-editing, or getting the work ready for beta readers or a professional editor. Stories are driven byContinue reading “Loose ends”
Editing Prep
Authors have many choices these days to get their words published. I’ve discussed the process from draft to done. In this week’s article, I’m going to focus on what authors should do to prepare their files for sending to editors or agents who will make changes to the manuscript. This is going to be oneContinue reading “Editing Prep”
Writing with Others
Reference: This is a post about writers workshops and writing groups, and is my take (and expansion) on ideas presented by academicwritingsuccess.com. Disclosure: I am an editor. I also definitely have a teaching approaching when working with clients. It’s a new year and, if you are like many writers, some of your resolutions revolve aroundContinue reading “Writing with Others”
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