Straight talk from the sisters about blood, sweat and ink
If you were with us last week for Heather’s post on productivity, you know we announced our Blogging from A to Z Challenge theme, Masterplots Theater. Heather and I didn’t coin the term masterplot and I’m not sure who did. However, the idea comes from a familiar writing concept, namely that all stories have been …
Continue reading “Plotting Revenge: Using a Masterplot”
I’m fascinated by story structure, particularly by stories that are not perfectly linear. I love reading parallel plotlines, stream of consciousness narratives and stories with reverse chronology. I’ve experimented with all of these forms. And that means I’ve written a flashforward. A flashforward is a scene that takes place outside of the current timeline of …
Continue reading “Writing a Flashforward”
While you might think anything that tightens a story and trims the word count is good thing, it’s important to realized this does not apply to underwriting. Underwriting is the reverse of overwriting: it’s when the author is too economical with their words, and critical aspects of the story come off as foggy, lacking in logic …
Continue reading “7 Ways Underwriting Sabotages Your Story”
Overwriting is a common problem for new writers. Even experienced writers can fall victim to the issue. It’s something, as a reader, that drives me nuts. It’s also something I’m guilty of needing friendly reminders about in my own early drafts. Overwriting is defined as: a tendency to write too much, or too ornately. A …
Continue reading “12 Tips to avoid Overwriting”
I have always used style sheets. This might be because I come from an academic background where adhering to style criteria is a required component for a submission. So I found it strange to learn most fiction writers skip this helpful step. What is a style sheet? A style sheet is a single document where …
Continue reading “3 Reasons Authors Need Style Sheets”
Lovable rouges are not villains, they are fascinating antiheroes. These characters are everywhere, in books, movies and on TV. They are young, old, male and female. And they have wowed us as protagonists, love interests and sidekicks for a long time. A few notable rouges are: Tom Sawyer from The Adventures of Tom Sawyer Jack …
Continue reading “Writing Lovable Rogues”
This is a little something I whipped up for all our writer friends to sing around the tree. Happy Holidays! The 12 Days of Writers’ Christmas On the first day of Christmas, My true muse sent to me An idea with a wicked plot twist. On the second day of Christmas, My true muse …
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We’re taking part in the Deja Vu Blogfest this weekend. This hop is the brainchild of DL Hammons, who also runs Blog Blitz. The rules of this hop are simple, pick a post from the last 12 months and reblog it. This post was originally run in February 2015 as part of 1000 Voices …
Continue reading “Deja Vu Blogfest: “Compassion””
Looking for the right gift for the writer in your life? An item that shows them you value and respect their writing as much as they do? Well, we have five uncommon but insanely practical gifts to suggest this season. We know any writer on your gift-giving list would be thrilled to receive one of …
Continue reading “5 Unique & Practical Gifts for Writers”
Everyone has heard the typical NaNoWriMo advice: Just write your story. Don’t stop! Don’t edit! Even if you know what you’re writing is awful, just keep pushing! This year was my third NaNoWriMo and every year has been a unique process; I’ve made countless mistakes, but I’ve also learned a lot about myself as …
Continue reading “5 Obscure Tricks for Winning #NaNoWriMo”