Let’s be honest, defining genres can be a real bear, and one of the blurriest lines is the one between Science Fiction and Fantasy. If you’re like me, your manuscript has elements of both. So how do you market it? Cue the glazed eyes and the descent of that nebulous SFF cloud. But what does… Read more »
Ok guys, so full disclosure here, I totally borrowed the term “palate cleanser” from a very gifted writer friend of mine. She’d just finished the final round of edits on her epic Sci-Fi love story, (though she’ll seriously kill me for calling it that). Her female protagonist is a kick-butt, yet deeply complex character, who… Read more »
Many writers claim to have number phobia. They are happy to wrangle with words, but as soon as mentions of math slip into conversation, they bolt, desperate to return to safer terrain. I’m one of the math-loving few in the writing community. I’ve always been a numbers nerd, and I love looking at data in… Read more »
Happy New Year beautiful people on the Internet! I hope 2023 is treating you right and you are ready to finish that novel before the end of this year. Admittedly, I did not have much time to work on my WIP last year. Most of it came out of the frustration I felt every time… Read more »
There is nothing like the feeling of typing “The End” on your rough draft. Writing a novel is a huge accomplishment and you should celebrate! Have a treat, share a toast with friends, reward yourself with a new book from your favorite independent bookstore, or have an impromptu living room dance party. Whatever you do,… Read more »
When World Building, What Size is Your Canvas? If I were a painter, I would daub oil paint across a large canvas. I am not a miniaturist, not one for too much introspection. Back in my dancing days, my dance partner and I choreographed ambitious full-length productions with just the two of us. Later, as… Read more »
Friends and readers, you have reached the final installment of Building Your Own Boat, a craft-centered column for fellow self-taught writers in progress. Thank you for sticking with me! If there is such a thing as a golden rule in the writing of fiction, it is that you must keep the reader engaged. A “likable”… Read more »
Inspiration and imagination fuel every story we write. The events and characters flow through our minds and fingers with ease on the best days. On the days when your idea pipe clogs, here are some creativity exercises for writers to pop your brain and get the stories flowing again! Add a Goblin Goblins are little… Read more »
It’s the new year, and you may have made a new year’s resolution that this would be the year you’d finish that novel or memoir. Book-length projects can start with great intentions, but something dwindles halfway through, or three-quarters of the way, or anywhere along the way. Or, maybe just the whole idea of starting… Read more »
No time to write? Psh. Ok, look, it’s a fact: we live in a world of distractions, and trying to write in the middle of it is no mean feat. Last month was case in point. Family will be there in twenty. Your email’s pinging over a podcast, kids are screaming, sauce is erupting all… Read more »
