You may be familiar with Pixar’s 22 Rules of Storytelling, and if not, you should check it out. It’s got a lot a great one or two sentence tips that could come in really helpful for newer writers. One that sticks out in particular for me relates to challenging your character: 6. What is your […]
How to write when you’re not motivated
We’ve all been there…The kids are in bed, the lights are dimmed, and the Word document is open. But so is your browser. And you’re like, I suppose I should work on this…thing…but there are so many more interesting things to look at instead. And no matter how guilty you feel about it, writing ends […]
How to get your query read
Whether you are submitting a short story to a token-paying ezine or a completed manuscript to an agent, the chance of receiving a rejection letter is still exponentially higher than receiving an acceptance. I like to look at the bright side and say that we can always learn from a rejection letter and that everyone […]
What are you giving up?
“I Just don’t have the time.” It’s crazy how many times I’ve heard people say, “I’d like to work out more, but I just don’t have the time.” Or “I’d like to read a book sometime, but I just don’t have the time.” Or my personal favorite, directed a me: “You write fiction? I wish […]
It’s okay to skip (or fail) NaNoWriMo
I made a joke on Twitter yesterday: If I write 10,000 words tonight I’d be caught up on NaNoWriMo! — Jason Bougger (@jasonbougger) November 6, 2017 Obviously, this was implying that I either hadn’t started yet, or was skipping NaNoWriMo all together. In my case, it’s that I’m skipping, and really didn’t even consider doing […]
Story ideas are all around you
“Where do you get your ideas?” I’m still not sure why that is such a common question non-writers ask writers. I wonder if what they really mean by that is not much where where the ideas come from, but something more along the lines of how your creative process works and what goes into coming […]
Don’t Play The Blame Game
High school was twenty years ago, but I still look back with a bit of embarrassment when it comes to some of the attitudes I held back then. I was the undisputed king of Blame Town. Didn’t make varsity in football? The coach hated me. Didn’t get an A on my paper? The teacher hated […]
Another look at writing goals
I often preach the value of setting attainable, written goals on this site and stress the importance of following through and holding yourself accountable to those goals. There’s one thing that I’ve never really talked about though. What happens if you set a goal that seemed attainable at first, but then in practice ended up […]
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