Short stories, like all aspects of the written word, have taken their rise and fall in the course of time. Today, we not only have the timeless short stories of the past, but we also see writers daily adding to the plethora of short stories on the market. The short story is not a dying […]
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Best Free Stock Images for Author Graphics
Authors need fabulous, eye-catching graphics to share in their blog posts and on social media. Sometimes, though, even the least expensive image subscription is just not in the budget. Today, I want to share with you a Pinterest board I’ve been creating. It contains all kinds of free writing- and reading-themed stock images. All you […]
15 Times to Fit in Writing When Life is Busy
When I think of a great writer, I think of someone in a quiet house with a daily ritual that involves writing for hours at a time. When I was a teen I would write from 8-10pm most nights of the week. It was awesome. Is that practical for me anymore? Eh, no. While this […]
How to Draw Maps and Floor Plans for Your Story
Have you ever struggled with the layout of a setting in your story? Have you ever gotten a character lost? Or written something that isn’t physically possible? (“She turned to the left and entered the next room…” Oh, wait, the door was to her right. SHE’S WALKING THROUGH WALLS NOW, FOLKS!) If you missed it, […]
Book Review: Characters and Viewpoint
(Affiliate link) Characters and Viewpoint by Orson Scott Card Vivid and memorable characters aren’t born: they have to be made This book is a set of tools: literary crowbars, chisels, mallets, pliers and tongs. Use them to pry, chip, yank and sift good characters out of the place where they live in your imagination. Award-winning author Orson […]
Mistakes or Placeholders?
Marta looked out at the really beautiful sunset. “Wouldn’t it be nice to be sitting on the beach with no worries about now, “ she said sadly. “And only the bugs for company.” Joe said gruffly. He was older than Marta, but didn’t look it as if time had frozen him at the moment of […]
Super Awesome FREE Writing Tools
You might already have Scrivener. You might already love Scrivener. But if you’re like me, you don’t have it and you don’t love it. I don’t need to pay that much for that many features I will never use. And then I found Amazon is getting into the writer’s world (go figure) and their tools […]
My Favorite Sites for Free and Inexpensive Stock Images
Whether you’re planning to DIY a book cover or make smashing social media graphics to promote your new release, you’ll need images! If you enjoy taking photos and have the equipment and skills needed, you can always use your own. Not everyone is a photographer, though, so you’ll be using stock images. If you’ve ever done […]
Haven’t I Learned Enough?
When I was teen writer, I was on top of things. I had quite strong opinions on what was right, what was wrong, what was accurate, and what was completely laughable. I knew how to write. Then I grew up. One of the most important steps of this “growing up” was realizing that nope, I […]
Don’t get Fighter’s Block
Many stories have fight scenes from Rocky’s bouts in the ring to the duel shown in the above picture from the Princess Bride. The scenes serve a variety of purposes as diverse as the stories they belong to. It would be hard to have a boxing movie with no boxing, but fights aren’t always physical […]