Though it may not look like it on the surface, a strong premise is key to nearly every stage of the writing process. Your novel’s premise will be there to keep you on track as you write, help you honor your original inspiration while editing, and even find your ideal readers when it comes time… Read more »
Everyone should play around with poetry. Period. Your hairdresser. The mail delivery person. The landscaper, the hummingbird feeder refill person. The person who diligently washes, folds and presses your socks. And, for sure, writers should play around with poetry. I’m talking to you, non-fiction writers. I’m talking to you, business and copywriter, you life coaches… Read more »
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 »
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 »
I read a lot of nonfiction because I have an innate curiosity about the world and I enjoy learning things I didn’t know before. Whenever I want to learn how something works, I find a book. I especially love reading writers’ memoirs as a way of learning more about writing. While everyone is different and… 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 »
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 »
