I’ve always been a lover of inspirational sayings; through the years I’ve collected a wide variety of these words of encouragement to bolster my sometimes flagging attitude. One of my favorites is attributed to the 30th President of the U.S., Calvin Coolidge. The gist of it is that nothing in the world can take the… Read more »
I recently wrote about using the Enneagram to set your own goals as a writer, but you can also use this powerful tool to help develop your fictional characters. In this post, I’m going to show you three ways that the Enneagram can help you develop complex, relatable characters that the reader cares about. 1…. Read more »
For writers rebounding from illness or a family emergency, getting back on track is challenging. My recovery from the virus-that-shall-not-be-named is going at a snail’s pace. Writing time has all but disappeared. With my lack of stamina, anything I do has to be in short increments. At times I feel discouraged, but working in small… Read more »
One of my favorite things about tarot cards is how rich in detail each card is, whether you know anything about the numerology or symbology layered into the card’s history or not. This makes using tarot as a writing tool extremely effective, since even the most novice of tarot readers can derive some meaning from… Read more »
Welcome back, poets! Today, I’m excited to talk about confessional poetry: a brief history, some defining characteristics, and a couple of exercises to help you get started writing confessional-style poetry of your own. A (Very) Brief History of Confessional Poetry In 1959, Robert Lowell’s Life Studies was published, a collection that would later be described… Read more »
In most collective storytelling games I have played we’ve worked toward a happy ending. More often than I would like, a campaign will fade to nothing after one too many scheduling conflicts—such is the nature of a game played by Busy Adults with Many Important Things to Do™. And sure, there is the occasional TPK… Read more »
Consistency and prioritizing our writing are so hard, aren’t they? You would think it gets easier, but honestly, it just gets different. Here are five ways I’ve found helpful to maximize the time I set aside to write, and hopefully, something in here helps you too. (Hint: It’s all about developing a creative ritual!) 1…. Read more »
In my last post, we talked about the characteristics of the romance genre. Today, I am going to break things down even further and talk about the various romance subgenres. Before I dive into popular romance subgenres and how to choose one, let’s define our term. A subgenre is a way of organizing a larger… Read more »
What are revisions? An edit by any other name would be just as damn difficult. But seriously. What do we mean by “writing” and “editing”? Are they really as black and white as the separate words make them appear? Yes, and no. Writing and editing are forever intertwined, causing debate and confusion over what these… Read more »
A pink glow from the sunrise diffused the harsh light from the fixture above. I glanced at the clock. 6:59 AM. I smiled as I typed my final letters and did a quick word count. 102 words in fifteen minutes. “YES!” My earworm of the morning, “Dancing Queen” by ABBA, filled my brain as I… Read more »
