Are You Over-Revising? Answer 2 Questions to Find Out

Last week I confessed the reasons Why I Haven’t Finished My Novel, and #1 is that I over-revise. To recap, that means when a story isn’t quite working, I change it in huge, drastic ways that make it a totally different story. Sometimes the main character even sports a whole new personality! My solution to …
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Friday Inspiration: The Right to an Education

I’m stepping away from writing craft today in order to discuss the horrid situation in Nigeria. The morning I awoke to the Today Show reporting 234 girls had been abducted from a boarding school in Nigeria, I gasped. Not just at the occurrence of such a despicable act but over the fact that it had …
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Perverting Tonto: Magical Realism?

The other night I watched the movie, The Lone Ranger, starring Armie Hammer and Johnny Depp. Before the movie premiered I saw the trailer and was eager to see it, as I’m a fan of both actors. The movie got generally panned, which I usually ignore when making my viewing choices, but I never did …
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3 Reasons You Need a Pen Name

For some reason my parents gave us gender ambiguous first names. My middle sister has a name that is almost exclusively in the male domain.  Where as my eldest sister and I have names that lean toward the feminine side, as does my poor brother’s name. Although, he legally changed his name the moment he …
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First Book Angst

Please welcome back our regular guest blogger Kathy Weyer.  We’re thrilled to have her here today because she’s sharing some big news… Well, I did it. After much angst and heavy thinking, as though this were a life or death decision, I have signed a contract with a publisher for my first book. Hooray for …
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Why I Haven’t Finished My Novel

When I decided to become a novelist, I thought I could whip out a novel in a year. After all, I knew how to write – I was a professional screenwriter. I could structure stories and develop characters and string together words in a compelling fashion. Why wouldn’t I complete a book in a year? …
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Friday Inspiration: Historical Ephemera

One of the sources I love to tap into when I’m writing historical fiction is ephemera. Ephemera are paper objects meant to serve a short-term function and be disposed of at the end of their useful lifespan. Some of the many items that fall into this category are product labels, railroad tickets, dressmakers patterns and …
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Creating Tension: Can There Be Too Much Conflict in a Story?

The other evening I was watching Scandal. Admittedly I came late to the party, missing the first season, then watching it on demand and jumping into season two enthusiastically. But the other night I very nearly turned it off. Aside from the constant snarl on Olivia’s face—which irritates me to no end—the relentless arguing, fighting …
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Mentoring Kid Writers

If you read this blog you know I’m passionate about kids reading, especially boys. Over the years I’ve logged a lot of hours as a literacy volunteer including a full year with a group of hard core “reluctant” readers, and working with some second language learners. However, this year I started teaching creative writing and …
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