Allstate was right. Life does happen fast. If you've been hovering around the blog recently, you've probably gathered that my life has been a bit unpredictable. I'll spare you the details, but suffice to say that just about nothing has gone to plan in the past month. When I decided to make major changes to … Continue reading 3 Writing and Life Lessons I Learned from a Month of Craziness
Writing Tips
You Can Attend Writing Conferences Every Month without Spending a Dime—Here’s How
Being a pro writer doesn't have to mean emptying out your entire savings account. As a writer who loves to learn but is also on a tight budget, I'm always on the lookout for free or cheap resources. I know I'm not the only one out there who doesn't have a spare $5k sitting around … Continue reading You Can Attend Writing Conferences Every Month without Spending a Dime—Here’s How
The Key to Creating Memorable Characters: Lessons from a Fan Favourite
If you want to take your story from good to great, you need to get serious about creating memorable characters. No matter what genre of fiction you write, good characters are key to your story's success. It can be the one thing that elevates your book, movie, or game from "pretty good" to cult classic. … Continue reading The Key to Creating Memorable Characters: Lessons from a Fan Favourite
Reblog: How Do You Find Your Narrator’s Voice?
http://ebookandpod.com/2023/08/15/how-do-you-find-your-narrators-voice/ If there's one thing you should probably study more as a writer, it's voice. In the writing world, voice is a bit of a taboo topic. Most people don't like to talk about it because it can be difficult to identify and distinguish from tone and style. While you have your own voice as … Continue reading Reblog: How Do You Find Your Narrator’s Voice?
Why You Should Be Writing Short Stories (And How to Do It Right!)
You want to write better. You want to publish a book. You want to make money with your writing. It all starts with short stories. Many of the self-published authors I’ve worked with had a book idea, wrote it, and wanted to publish it. This is great—except that most of these people had never written … Continue reading Why You Should Be Writing Short Stories (And How to Do It Right!)
Why You Need a More Flexible Writing Schedule
Last week doesn't count. That's what I keep telling myself this week as my work is compounding because last week did not go according to plan. It was one of those scenarios where everything decided to happen at once. I woke up on Monday to find that a hurricane was approaching. And so ensued hurried … Continue reading Why You Need a More Flexible Writing Schedule
5 Most Commonly Misused Words and Phrases (According to an Editor)
The English language is a funny thing. Ask any two people about a specific word or phrase and they'll probably say or explain it differently depending on where they're from and how their family says it. Some people grow up not even knowing that they've got their phrasing or spelling wrong, and those mistakes then … Continue reading 5 Most Commonly Misused Words and Phrases (According to an Editor)
Don’t Skip the Grammar Lessons!
If you’ve been around for a while, you know there are two main things I talk about a lot: characters and grammar. It may not seem like it, but they’re similar in a few ways. Mainly, they’re both often overlooked, and yet they’re integral to a good book. Yesterday I talked about characters, so today … Continue reading Don’t Skip the Grammar Lessons!
Reblog: Research for Fiction Writers from A Writer’s Path
http://ryanlanz.com/2022/06/18/research-for-fiction-writers/ We don't often talk about research as fiction writers, do we? Just because you're writing fiction doesn't mean you can make everything up. As ARHuelsenbeck points out in this article, readers don't appreciate inaccurate information, even in a genre like sci-fi! Even fantasy calls for research sometimes—I've done plenty! But research can also be … Continue reading Reblog: Research for Fiction Writers from A Writer’s Path
The Anne of Green Gables Series: Uncovering the Key to Making a Long Series Enjoyable
If you don't love Anne Shirley, you've never read Anne of Green Gables. I only discovered Anne about two years ago when an actress I've been following for a long time made a wonderful audiobook of L. M. Montgomery's classic. Since then, I've been leisurely making my way through the rest of the series. My … Continue reading The Anne of Green Gables Series: Uncovering the Key to Making a Long Series Enjoyable
The Story Canvas 