Straight talk from the sisters about blood, sweat and ink
Being a writer can take a toll on us, physically, emotionally and mentally. When we get engrossed in writing, it’s easy to forget to look after ourselves. So I’ve come up with three things I am going to try to do every day to take better care of myself… 3 Tips for Writer Wellbeing Stretch. …
Continue reading “W is for Writer Wellbeing”
I love unreliable narrators because they go hand-in-hand with surprise endings. No matter the genre, when a narrator is not telling the truth there is mystery in the story. 3 Tips for Writing Unreliable Narrators Track the truth. Whether the narrator is lying on purpose or not, you the writer need to keep track of …
Continue reading “U is for Unreliable Narrators”
One of the many things I’m learning from writing this blog is that people have different definitions for writing terms. When Robin first wrote a post on reversals, I thought to myself, “Oh, I call those Turning Points!” Perhaps that’s the screenwriting term. But both mean the same thing – a moment where the story …
Continue reading “R is for Reversal”
Questions are what keep readers interested in a story. At every moment in your novel, the reader must want to know the answer to a question, otherwise there’s no reason to keep reading. There are three types of questions in every good story, and I’ll endeavour to give you some tips on how to make …
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As a screenwriter, outlines are mandatory. Not so for authors. If you’re penning a novel, it seems as if you must choose between two camps – plotter (those who outline) or pantser (those who start writing a manuscript sans outline). But it doesn’t have to be one or the other, and I think the vast …
Continue reading “O is for Outlines”
I’ve spent most of my career writing cartoons and teen sitcoms where getting laughs from the audience is paramount! Not surprisingly, many screenwriters are comedians. I, alas, am not. Luckily, we all have the ability to be funny if we keep in mind the following three tips… 3 Tips for Making People Laugh Subvert the …
Continue reading “L is for Laughs”
Know what we need in the middle of this A to Z Challenge? A fun post full of cute kitty pictures! But I also have some bonafide advice for writers with cats. Just this year we adopted a stray kitten from the shelter, and I’ve learned a few things about writing from home with a …
Continue reading “K is for Kittens!”
A couple letters ago, I talked about External Conflict – all those forces in the universe that are bumping up against the protagonist. Now we’ll discuss Internal Conflict – the sometimes black hole of doubt within the hero. Like External Conflict, Internal Conflict must get in the way of the hero achieving his goal. Most …
Continue reading “I is for Internal Conflict”
Let’s face it, space is a risky business. I always considered every launch a barely controlled explosion. — Aaron Cohen, NASA Administrator Before writing this post, I Googled “false stakes” to see what other people had written on the subject and found… nothing! Not a single article or blog post on false stakes of the non-vampire …
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Our two greatest problems are gravity and paperwork. We can lick gravity, but sometimes the paperwork is overwhelming. — Wernher von Braun, Rocket Engineer Conflict is the engine of every story, and there are two kinds: internal and external. Because we’re on the letter E, let’s examine the external type of conflict… 3 Tips for …
Continue reading “E is for External Conflict”