Regardless of whether your story uses a world full of fantasy-filled adventures or one as mundane as our own, there’s an art to world-building. And it's an art that can be overwhelming for writers who’ve never created a world before, or ones attempting their biggest yet—such as a foray into a book series. But world-building …
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 you read last week’s blog post, you’ll know we looked at some common writing gremlins, such as overwriting, multiple gestures, extra staging, etc (check out the full post here). When the post went live, a few readers commented on underwriting being one of their gremlins. As a chronic overwriter, underwriting hadn’t occurred to me, …
Just as every writer has a way to come up with ideas and put them on the page, there are writing gremlins that pop up with every draft they complete. Sometimes you recognize these gremlins on your own, or sometimes it has to be pointed out to you. This happened to me recently when I …
Any writer who has gotten to the beta reader feedback stage of their writing journey knows handing your MS to others to read is a helpful part of the process. It can be essential for addressing plot issues, character flaws, confusing narratives, what works and what doesn’t, and picking up those elusive typos. It’s also …
While my latest work in progress is off with beta readers, I turned my attention to another manuscript, the 4th book in my YA series, Blackbirch. The last time I worked on this MS was in 2017. Since that time, the first 2 books in the series have been published (in 2o20) and the 3rd …
When it comes to crafting your characters, one important thing to include is motivation. It’s not just because motivation will get the story moving forward, but because it will also help you create well-rounded characters readers will relate to and become invested in. If that sounds like something you want to include in your book, …
While you might not be a writer of action-based books, chances are if there’s any type of conflict in your novel, you may have to write an action scene. I did, after starting my YA series, Blackbirch. For a book about teens with magickal abilities, there ended up being a few scenes that required me …
One milestone to hit in the book writing process is sending your WIP off to beta readers. Your betas can be family, friends, fellow writers, or even paid for services. I’ve used all types, including this week when I finally sent my latest work in progress to four fellow writers! These talented author friends and …
