When it comes to penning a story, there are a few essential ingredients to add to the mix, and one of them is conflict. Why? Because humans love drama. That’s the reason reality TV shows are still around and why readers enjoy stories that use conflict to hold their interest. Does that mean your book …
As writers, we’ve all had those moments when it’s been hard to sit down and write. It could be because other responsibilities have kept us away from our writing desks, or illness has sidelined us. Then there are those times when we’ve been able to write and we just… don’t. When that happens, it’s down …
Continue reading How To Stop Self-Sabotaging Your Writing Progress
If the thought of rising early to write has you automatically hitting the snooze button, you’re not alone. I once balked at getting up before the sun to pursue my literary dreams. I’d much rather stay warm, wrapped up in blankets than trudge to my writing desk, and work on something bleary-eyed. But then things …
If you've been following me on social media, you would have noticed that I've been uploading videos on Tuesdays as part of a #TeaserTuesday hashtag to promote my books. These 30-second videos include a snippet from my latest release and are animated with the magick that features in my YA Urban Fantasy series, Blackbirch. Creating …
Many of us will kick off April 2020 in the comfort of our own homes. This isn't a collective vacation, it's the new normal as the world adjusts to coronavirus. For some writers, this has been their way of life for years. For others, the initial burst of enthusiasm for working in their PJ's, extra …
Raise your hand if you've been having trouble concentrating this last week. With Coronavirus sweeping the world, it's been hard to think about anything other than keeping your #SocialDistance and what you will do now it's impossible to find toilet paper. If you're lucky enough to be able to work from home, you're also facing …
Continue reading How To Stay Creative When The World Is On Fire
Almost every step of the writing process has elements that can mess with your head. There are the characters that won't stop talking when you're writing. The endless editing that has you correcting words in your sleep. Writing queries or a one-page synopsis (one page!) and dealing with generic rejections that give no clue about …
Continue reading How To Keep Yourself Sane When Self-Publishing
As has been the basis for my posts since I started this blog in 2017, I write about where I'm at in my writing journey, what I'm learning, and hope that you find it just as helpful. This means today's blog is about what to include in an ARC (advanced reader copy), something I've only …
Any writer who's had to write a query or a synopsis for a submission knows how hard it can be. Trying to boil the essence of your carefully crafted story to a few paragraphs, or a page seems like the hardest thing ever. I'm here to tell you it's not. And that's because there's a …
K.M. Allan 