I am a copyeditor through and through. I live, eat, and breathe punctuation and grammar. As such, I love the feeling of finding a moment in the manuscript where it can be strengthened. Depending on the writing, these changes and suggestions can reach the thousands. But what’s average? And what are all the changes this… Read more »
You’ve pulled your hair out. Bled on the page. Gone over your WIP six ways til Sunday. Maybe you’ve even put it through one of those AI editing programs or had someone read it. One last comb through for typos or other writing errors. Yeah. That’s it. Time to submit. You hit send, and then… Read more »
Writing an entire novel is a lot of work, but it can be a truly satisfying accomplishment. Seeing your characters come to life, pursuing their primary motivations while overcoming (or not) their greatest obstacles, makes for some amazing storytelling when sustained for at least 50,000 words. But novels aren’t for everyone, so enter short form… Read more »
Who doesn’t love the daring feats of Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, and Ron Weasley? And most of the time they’re acting independently, without a parent in sight. That being said, this independent action gets them in all sorts of trouble with not only parents, but their teachers and school headmaster, Dumbledore. That’s the thing with… Read more »
Writing a captivating novel (one that grabs readers like a new episode of Stranger Things) is perhaps the most challenging personal project you’ll willingly embark on. Why? Because it demands a unique blend of creativity, craftsmanship, storytelling finesse, resilience, and the unwavering belief that you’re a literary genius, even when your words feel as lackluster… Read more »
Picture books are their own unique art form, and often it’s a memorable main character that makes a picture book feel so special that you want to read it again and again and share it with everyone you know. Whether the protagonist embodies the theme and goes on a singular adventure, or gets in trouble… Read more »
This installment of the Book Coach Corner series addresses two common misconceptions writers have about when to start writing a novel and when to hire a book coach. Sometimes a book coach is the missing resource a writer needs to help them start their novel. Book Coach Recap Book coaches can support writers throughout the… Read more »
When the writing isn’t going well, I often go to the kitchen, not to consume (well, sometimes), but to reconnect with the creative flow. Seeking kitchen inspiration, I rediscovered the seminal cooking show, The French Chef. The first thing I noticed is that culinary icon Julia Child isn’t perfect. She loses her train of thought,… Read more »
A MacGuffin (sometimes spelled McGuffin) can be a way to draw your characters into the real story. There needs to be something going on at the beginning of the story to hook the reader in and show the characters being proactive—before the full implications of the plot crash down on them. A MacGuffin is an… Read more »
A few weeks ago at a dinner party, I fielded one of my least favorite questions: “What do you do?” In response, I smiled blandly, mentioned my writing, and braced myself for the usual barrage of follow-ups: “How do you support yourself?” “What do you write?” “What inspires you?” No, my writing doesn’t support me…. Read more »
