Sometimes there just seems so much to do. Those books won’t write themselves, you know! There’s pressure to hustle harder and get our butts on the chair and write write write. And they’re not wrong. But sometimes sticking to our to-do lists, hustling, and being busy busy busy isn’t actually the best way to go […]
Theme in story can be tricky to pin down sometimes. Sometimes it’s described as what’s “below the surface” of the novel, or the iceberg that is mostly hidden below the water. A story’s theme is also referred to its “soul” or its “core.” Basically it means what a story is about, its universal theme, or […]
As writers we are constantly needing to come up with names for fictional characters. So what’s in a name? Does a rose by any other name really smell as sweet? Would Frodo Baggins have been the same hobbit if he had been named Kikko Killingham? What about Shannon Lilac or Dimitri Ivanov? Names have a […]
This week you can find me guest posting over at Fiction University! I’m talking about 5 ways to use holidays in your writing. Everyone loves a special occasions and there are lots of ways we can incorporate that into our stories both to enrich the setting and drive the plot. So check out my post […]
Every villain needs a motive, because here’s the secret: from their perspective they’re not the villain. They have reasons for doing what they’re doing. We can’t just have vague “evil villains” being bad just for the sake of giving our heroes someone to fight. Often a villain’s motivations can be remarkably similar to our heroes, […]
Often I feel like I have too many writing projects and too little time! I have all sorts of stories I want to be working on and it can be hard to sort out how that works alongside the rest of life. (Anyone else??) Lately a lot of my writing times are only 5-15 minutes […]
I don’t know about you, but sometimes when I’m writing I get all caught up in plot points and “things to do” that I forget to… well… have fun. Don’t get me wrong, I still think plot points are important. I’ve talked about story structure before and how its framework can actually give us more […]
I’ve been reading more classics lately and just finished Walden by Henry Thoreau. Have you read that one? Maybe years and years ago? Here are some of my thoughts and favorite quotes for you to enjoy 🙂 Reading Walden Reading Walden was slow going- I started it in 2020 and would often only read a […]
This past February I took part of FAWM, which stands for February Album Writing Month. The goal of FAWM is to write and record 14 songs in 28 days and there is this great community of people all making music and encouraging each other along the way. (Really, as I’ve said before, it’s a lot […]
In our stories, our characters can’t always get along. Even friends can’t always agree. Why? Well let me ask you this- do you always get along with everyone? Really? Really? Not only do we all have bad days, moments of stress, and grumpy mornings- we’re also all human. We have different ideas, worldviews, plans, and […]
These are some of my favorite comics about writing and creating! As well as a few bonus comics just for fun 😉 Your own mileage may vary but I hope they make you smile! These artists all have fantastic work posted online and sold in stores- I’ve linked to their sites below so definitely check […]
There’s lots of talk about love this time of year and so today we’re looking at 5 different types of love in stories. That’s right, because love doesn’t come one-size-fits-all greeting-card type format. There are a million different ways to give, receive, experience, and feel love. All of these experiences and expressions of love can […]
Today I am thrilled to be sharing a guest post I wrote for Fiction University looking at six rules for retelling classic stories. As always, I encourage you to check out the vast stores of resources and information available at Fiction University… and of course check out my post as well!! 6 Rules for Retelling […]
Writing great character introductions is an important way to get our readers invested in our story and interested in our characters. We want to help readers see and love our characters as much as we do! Character introductions seem like they should be easy. Just tell people the character’s name and a couple of basic […]
Ever wish you could write a song? Ever hear a song on the radio and think “I could do better”? I’m here today to ask you- why not? Why not give it a go? There is a lot we can learn from music as writers: it helps us think differently about words and rhythm. It’s […]