Straight talk from the sisters about blood, sweat and ink
I’m having a little fun with a new blog series of “Teen Me Reviews” where I rehash how I felt about a book when I was a teenager and compare it to how I feel about it now as a grown up… Teen Heather’s reaction to The Handmaid’s Tale: ******************************************************************************************** Oh my gawd, this book is soooooo boring! …
Continue reading “Teen Me reviews “The Handmaid’s Tale””
Every year I learn new things about writing. Every. Single. Year. But in 2014 I feel I really topped up the ol’ brain with writing tips. Maybe because this was my first full year blogging, and creating a post every week forced me to learn by analyzing the mistakes I made, dissecting problems I encountered, …
Continue reading “Top 10 Writing Tips of 2014 + What’s New for 2015”
There are all kinds of cute ideas for what to get writers this holiday season. Writers Helping Writers has a whole Pinterest page full of them! Though I like slogan mugs and book cover necklaces, I don’t really need those things. Instead, in lieu of the usual knick-knacks and novelty presents, here are some practical, …
Continue reading “Writer Wish List: 7 Practical Gifts for the Starving Artist”
In a novel, the main character must go through a life-changing event that transforms them by end of the book. (For more read What Is Character Change and How to Create Character Change.) With that in mind, it should be easy to know who is my protagonist, right? Just build the novel around whoever has …
Continue reading “How To Choose A Main Character”
It’s generally accepted that art imitates life. Not that art is a carbon copy of life, but rather it epitomizes life honestly. It doesn’t matter if a writer fabricates fantasy worlds or invents sci-fi tech that doesn’t exist in our current reality; what matters is that the story embodies the truth of the human experience. …
Continue reading “When Life Imitates Art: Thailand Protesters Adopt the Hunger Games Salute”
This week a writer friend suggested that I blog about the writer’s age-old enemy: procrastination. Thing is, I don’t procrastinate anymore. I don’t avoid writing by doing other things. I have set times to write and I stick to my schedule, but… sometimes I still get nothing written. How come? What’s my problem? A few …
Continue reading “4 Tips to Beat Mental Procrastination”
It’s almost Halloween! So here at Write On Sisters we’ve lined up a week of scary writing tips and tricks. I love scary stories. I grew up reading R.L Stine and Christopher Pike and Lois Duncan. I experienced the teen slasher flick revival that started with the movie SCREAM. I wanted to write my own …
Continue reading “How Writing Horror is like Writing Comedy”
I love scary stories. Armed with a flashlight and nerves of spaghetti, I would spend hours reading R.L. Stine and Christopher Pike. But the first scary stories I ever read were… fairy tales. Seriously. Poisoned apples, witches, deadly candy houses, big bad wolves, giants on beanstocks, evil stepsisters – fairy tales are scary stuff! The …
Continue reading “What We’re Reading for October: Fairy Tales”
When it comes to writing, I am definitely a plotter. I love knowing where my story is going and filling in the details on scene index cards before I start writing prose. But when it comes to making money, I am a pantser. I have no idea what my next job will be or when …
Continue reading “Freelancing (aka “Pantsing” Your Livelihood)”
This weekend is Thanksgiving in Canada, so I thought I’d blog about things I’m thankful for, you know, because that’s what this holiday is about. But instead I feel like curling up in a corner and crying. Not because my life is so awful, but because I’m not where I want to be with my …
Continue reading “7 Books That Make Me Be Thankful”