#5onFri: Five Ways Numbers Can Improve Your Writing Life

#5onFri: Five Ways Numbers Can Improve Your Writing Life

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 »

Four Plot Twist Ideas to Get Your Act II Going

Four Plot Twist Ideas to Get Your Act II Going

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 »

#5onFri: 5 Tips to Make the Most of Your First Read Through

#5onFri: 5 Tips to Make the Most of Your First Read Through

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 »

Research: The Key to Immersive World Building

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 »

Be Brief. Be Specific. Be Gorgeous.

Be Brief. Be Specific. Be Gorgeous.

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 »

Five More Creativity Exercises for Writers

Five More Creativity Exercises for Writers

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 »

12 Steps to Getting that Book Written

12 Steps to Getting that Book Written

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 »

Seven Tips to Create a Unique Sidekick Character

Seven Tips to Create a Unique Sidekick Character

In this article, we will discuss what makes a good sidekick character and give you seven tips for writing one effectively. So when you pick up your laptop to write your novel, screenplay, or comic book, make sure to keep these tips in mind! What is a Sidekick Character? In literature and movies, a sidekick… Read more »

#5onFri: From Idea to Drafting in Five Steps

#5onFri: From Idea to Drafting in Five Steps

You have an idea for a story. Maybe you’ve been kicking it around for years, or it hit you yesterday, but you’re unsure where to begin. Here are five steps to help you develop your story from idea to drafting your novel.  Before diving in, examine why you want to write this book. Why are… Read more »