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!)
creative writing
The One-Stop Shop for All Your Writing Needs
It's Thursday, and usually that means I bring you a great post from another blog or website. Don't worry—reblogs aren't going away, but today, I want to introduce you to something special. My reblog posts are a great way for both me and you to discover new writing blogs. But there are some resources that … Continue reading The One-Stop Shop for All Your Writing Needs
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!
Answering Your Burning Questions about Freelance Writing: “Where Do I Start?”
Do you know what it takes to be a freelance writer? Over the past several weeks, I've put out a plethora of posts on freelance writing—everything from platforms to essential tools to landing gigs. But now that we've covered the basics and I've seen how many people are interested in this topic, I want to … Continue reading Answering Your Burning Questions about Freelance Writing: “Where Do I Start?”
Writing Lessons Learned from Counselling at Youth Camp
If you start to wonder why my posts are late or short this week, I've got a pretty good excuse. Several, in fact. But the one I'll share is that recently, I was at a summer camp with my church's youth group. Now I have your pity, right? Actually, it was a great trip. I … Continue reading Writing Lessons Learned from Counselling at Youth Camp
The Hallmarks of a Good Writing Spot
Sometimes, to get a good writing session in, you just need to get out of the house. Being in a different space can spark just the right kind of creativity, but it can also create enough distractions to detract from your focus. So how do you find the balance? How do you know if settling … Continue reading The Hallmarks of a Good Writing Spot
Why You Need to Know the Purpose of Your Book
In every non-fiction writing course you will ever take, one of the first things your instructor will ask you about is your "why." In other words: what's your purpose for writing this book? They say it's the first step in writing and marketing a successful book. But here's my question: why aren't fiction writers asked … Continue reading Why You Need to Know the Purpose of Your Book
Have I Discovered the Perfect Plotting Method for Pantsers?
Pantsers, where are you? Hooray for having no idea what we're doing! That's what I always thought being a pantser meant. When I penned books in my younger years, I never even touched an outline. I thought I simply didn't need one - I could write a book from beginning to end flawlessly. But I've … Continue reading Have I Discovered the Perfect Plotting Method for Pantsers?
What We Learn from a Character’s First Scenes in The Force Awakens
May the Fourth be with you! It's no secret that I'm a Star Wars nerd. As I talked about last month, Star Wars shaped me both as a person and a writer as I was growing up. Love or hate certain parts of it, there's no doubt that Star Wars has, in all likelihood, the … Continue reading What We Learn from a Character’s First Scenes in The Force Awakens
Elantris: Do’s and Don’ts at the Beginning of a Book
If you've been keeping up with stuff for the past year or two, you might have heard of Brandon Sanderson (you know, the guy who broke Kickstarter?). You might have even read some of my posts about his books, as I've been reading through them for the past year or so. Sanderson is a fantastic … Continue reading Elantris: Do’s and Don’ts at the Beginning of a Book
The Story Canvas 