Spoiler Warning: I discuss the outcomes of both Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame in this post. I often say that the biggest mistake a writer can make is to create a character or plot that no one really cares about. If, for example, your main character is too boring or one-dimensional, or if your […]
Five Links Friday 6/14/19
Whoa that went fast. Here’s another edition of Five Links Friday to get you through the weekend! 1. Let’s start with something a little different this week. Here’s a TED Talk on the significance of HP Lovecraft by Silvia Moreno-García. 2. From Lovecraft to…well, there’s really no way to finish that sentence, so let’s just […]
A Cool Trick to Help Improve Your Revision Skills
My 7-year-old really enjoys reading. Watching him devour Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Captain Underpants, and all their sequels and spin-off makes me so proud. My favorite (and the one I’m reading with him) is the 39 Clues series. Like a lot of kids, his love of reading has him writing as well. He staples […]
7 Essential Elements of a Story
I attended the Nebraska Writers Guild Spring Conference this weekend (although it could have been called Winter Conference, as it was 14 degrees with snow. Hence the “Nebraska” part of “Nebraska Writers Guild”) and had a great time, as always. They brought in several high profile speakers and agents, and today I wanted to share […]
Surprise your audience, but be sure it makes sense in the long-term
I’ve never been shy to admit that I’m a fan of professional wrestling. Well, maybe I should say I used to be a fan of professional wrestling. Due to the combination of life’s responsibilities, the kids, and just the fact that the current product is nearly unwatchable to us fans of the 80s and 90s, […]
Five Links Friday 12/15/17
Time again for another Five Links Friday. Hope you had a great week, and will have an even better weekend. Enjoy! 1. Let’s begin with the end. Here is a look at good endings & what yours should include by Roz Morris at Writers Helping Writers. 2. Fantasy Faction has a really cool Worldbuilding Round […]
When to let a project die (or at least take an extended vacation from it)
Ok, so we’ve all got those projects that give us trouble. Take me, for example. I have a novel I finished in the 2012 NaNoWriMo, that I’ve been “working on” ever since. I just can’t seem to get it right. I even pitched it at last year’s RMFW conference, knowing full well that it just […]
Five Questions to ask yourself when revising
Revising your manuscript is one of the most difficult things in writing. Many authors will tell you that revising a novel is far more difficult than writing it in the first place. And I get it. I have an unpublished novel that revising has been a complete nightmare on. A lot of the problems with […]