Writing Camp has started and I don’t have a lot of time, and many of my readers should be busy writing to, so I’ll keep today’s post simple. “If you don’t have time to read, you don’t have the time (or the tools) to write. Simple as that.” ― Stephen King “Read, read, read. Read […]
Getting Over a Blank Page
How do you start writing? How do you get from that blank page to a page with words on it? You have your ideas, you have considered all sorts of things, and now you are ready to write. But how? You have opened that blank document and that little blinking line seems to tick down […]
Tips on Writing for a Theme
Writing for a certain theme or about a specific theme can be challenging. How do you do it? I asked some other authors for their tips and advice, and I’ll be sharing my own too. So hopefully something in this post helps you next time you have to write a story for a theme. Auntie […]
Never Overlook the Little Numbers
One day this summer, my 3-y-o niece was over at our house with most of her older siblings. We were all on the floor building or playing with lego and she started singing, okay, it was more like belting out, “Never overlook a little engine!” She sang that line over and over and over. And […]
Tips on Creating Realistic Goals
Registration for the King’s Daughters’ Writing Camp opens on Thursday! And with registration comes picking goals for writing camp. (Of course these goals can be changed later.) But how do you set realistic goals for writing? There are many different types of goals you could set. But which one?! Let’s break this down into a […]
The Challenge of Chapter Division
In every writer’s life there comes a time when the question of chapters comes up. How do you divide your story into chapters? How long should you make your chapters? How long is too long or too short? I’m not going to tell you I have all the answers because that would be silly. Besides, […]
*Writing* . . . Oh, What’s That?
In a world of distractions, it’s easy to get . . . well, distracted. We find ourselves going off on bunny trails that lead to a big patch of distraction clover, or we follow a tiny path just a little ways and end up in the world of new ideas and amazing new things. I’m […]
Short Stories or Not?
What are your thoughts on recommending short stories as a beginner writer’s project? (Pros, cons, short-story-specific struggles, tips, etc. ) As a writer and a writing teacher, I would highly recommend beginner writers start out with short stories. It may sound fun to just write a full length novel at first, but there could be problems in […]
Follow the Idea – Gift from the Storm
Some people have asked me if my stories ever evolve into something different than I was expecting. Or if my stories ever change as I’m writing them. Sometimes they do slightly, other times quite a bit. Did you want to see what the changes for one story look like? I give you Gift from the […]
Thoughts to Consider Before Writing
I’ve often had others ask me questions that relate to writing. How do I do this or that? What advice would you give about this thing? What do you do when faced with that? So, I thought I’d take some time this year and answer some of those questions. Hopefully you’ll find them helpful and […]
- 1
- 2
- 3
- …
- 6
- Next Page »