Straight talk from the sisters about blood, sweat and ink
Some like it hot, but I like it RED. In September I bought a red house. I know what you’re thinking, who does that? Someone with a secret barn obsession? Turns out lots of people love red houses and Pinterest is full of people lamenting their lack of red house. Why? Because red triggers emotions. …
Continue reading “3 Tips for Using Color Theory In Your Writing”
Many years ago in graduate school I taught a class on nonfiction critique writing. Most of my students had no experience critiquing another person’s writing so we spent a lot of time talking about the elements of a good critique. It didn’t take long for me to realize they needed an acronym to help them …
Continue reading “The Formula for Great Critiques is R.I.T.E.”
We’re running retro-posts for Robin while she’s moving into her new house. Hurry back, Robin, we miss you! The ability to mass produce books gave birth to the popular novel, the Bronte Sisters, George Sand and perhaps one of the best-loved novelists of all time, Jane Austen. Since Austen’s first book was released over two centuries …
Continue reading “Retro Robin: You Are Mistaken, Mr. Darcy: How to Use Literature to Build Your Fiction Vocabulary”
We’re running a retro-post for Robin this week while she’s moving into her new house…actually her very first post! Hurry back, Robin, we miss you! It’s funny how some journeys sound idyllic on paper. You set forth with clear blue skies and total assurance of your own capabilities, and then the wind kicks up. Within seconds, you’re lost among …
Continue reading “Retro Robin Post: Defeat Fear & Leap”
Since I’m in the thick of buying a new house, and packing to move my family, my time is limited. Kathy did me a huge favor by mentioning my pickle trick last Friday in her post. Pickle Trick = Use your software program’s FIND function to locate weak verbs and replace them with the word “pickle.” * …
Continue reading “To Pickle, Or Not To Pickle?”
We’ve all heard it. Murder your darlings. But what does it mean? Is it just another tip in the ever-growing list of misunderstood writing advice? Or is it the cornerstone of every successful writing project? First the history lesson. It appears this advice originated from Arthur Quiller-Couch. He made this comment in 1914 and all …
Continue reading “Is Killing Your Darlings Murdering Your Book?”
About a year ago I started to notice how all the Kindle books started to look alike. At first I thought it was just the nature of genre fiction. After all, one pair of lovers looks pretty much like every other pair of lovers. However, once I started paying attention, and did some digging, I …
Continue reading “Book Cover Art: Did You Get What You Paid For?”
August will always be back-to-school time inside my head, I know Heather feels the same way. It’s the start of a new season, Fall, my favorite time of the year. I love how the chill at night is just starting to yip at summer’s heels. By the end of August I’m ready for a change, …
Continue reading “What We’re Reading: August is YA Nonfiction”
I’m sure most writers know how to craft a major character; they understand the importance of their leads and that they should occupy the most page space. Yet every story needs supporting characters. Today, it’s all about the minor players, those characters we see briefly and yet are so well written they’ll stick with us. …
Continue reading “6 Tips for Writing Minor Characters”
Over the last year I’ve done a large number of posts on character archetypes; you can read some of those posts here. I write these posts because I’m obsessed with creating groups of coordinating and contrasting characters. Some of my favorite books, TV shows and movies combine characters to create an interconnected web of personalities. …
Continue reading “Assembly Required: Create an Ensemble Book Cast”