Being a writer is no easy feat. Writing requires honesty and gumption. It requires you to be resilient, immune to criticism, and to spend hours locked away in seclusion. What makes a writer successful? Is it only about natural talent? Or is it more about discipline and learning resilience? Whenever I need some writing inspiration,… Read more »
Writing a novel is a lengthy process, so it’s understandable that our inspiration can start to drift along the way. Inspiration often goes hand in hand with motivation – when we’re feeling excited and enthusiastic about our WIP the words flow more easily and the writing sessions fly by. Likewise, when we find ourselves feeling… Read more »
There are over six million Kindle books published on Amazon. Only a small percentage will be bestsellers. As an author, it’s up to you to make your book stand out. Sure, marketing and branding help you sell more books, but the best way to sell books is to write the best one possible. In this… Read more »
When it comes to working with literary themes in your writing, it’s not enough to identify or study them. It’s also crucial to practice incorporating themes logically and thoughtfully into your work. We did this last year with a series of writing and brainstorming exercises for the theme of family. Today, we’ll do this again… Read more »
If you’re an anxious writer, you can rest assured that sooner or later the anxiety you struggle with will seep into your work. Everything from your writing style to your tone, voice, and perspective can become tainted with tension and unease, discomfort and discouragement. If you find that you’re nodding your head in agreement, here… Read more »
Hey there word nerds! Today, I have the pleasure of interviewing Claire Waller. Claire is a secondary school teacher who works with teenagers with mental health issues. She has had two adult horror novels (Predator X, Nine Eyes) published by Australian indie publisher, Severed Press. FUGLY is her first YA novel. Claire lives with her… Read more »
Writing a short story always seems so easy until you try to write one. Then, reality sets in. How do you fit in character development? An entire plot? So much to fit and so few words! Because of these constraints, short stories are a great tool to practice writing. Short stories can teach you to… Read more »
Second chance romances are wonderful because of that second chance. They are also very challenging, because we take two people who were in love and did not stay together, and we expect our reader to believe they should still be together¬–even if the couple does not think so! That being said, I love a good… Read more »
Writing can be intensely rewarding, but each book is also a messy, long-drawn trek. Here are five practices that may help you to navigate through these journeys: 1) Treat your writing as a job It is of course your vocation, but if you wait for inspiration from the heavens, you’ll never get anything completed. So:… Read more »
“Chefs, please open your baskets.” With those words, the competition on Chopped, my favorite Food Network show, where four chefs compete against each other in elimination-style appetizer, entree, and dessert rounds, begins At the start of each round the chefs open baskets containing four ingredients that must be used in the dish—unusual ingredients such as… Read more »
