Janet

I have an addiction…to writing craft books. In my bookcase two entire shelves are devoted to them, easily 15% of my entire fiction/nonfiction library. I find a new one or two every year, and believe me I learn something from each. Some of my old favorites have gone out of print, sadly, but most are… Read more »

We’ve reached the end of my short hot writing tips for cold nights (even though those cold nights are still with us, here in Montana at any rate). Today I want to present a final hot writing tip – about the antagonist. Opposites Attract Protagonists in stories need counterbalancing. They need opposing forces, obstacles, difficulties…. Read more »

Plot. It can drive you crazy, especially if you’re a new writer. How many different ways are there to represent plot? Are there plot devices you can lean on every time? Do you Save The Cat? Or do you take The Hero’s Journey? Do you Write From the Middle? Or do you listen to The… Read more »

Welcome back to my writing craft “mini-series”, with more hot tips for cold winter nights! This week I want to look at some macro issues. Why This Book? When you sit down to write, you should always ask yourself “why you are writing this book”. Why not something else? What is important enough that it… Read more »

Teachers and librarians! I have a bunch of ARCs (advance reader copies) of Carry Me Home, so I’m hosting an initial ARC give away on Twitter this week! Here’s the link to the Twitter post. (This give away is being hosted solely on Twitter, but watch this space for more give aways throughout the spring.)… Read more »

For this week’s hot writing craft tips, let’s look even more closely and with a sculptor’s eye at words and sentences and paragraphs. Diction and Syntax Diction (word choice) and syntax (sentence structure) are more than just grammar terms – they are the materials writers use to shape thought. By understanding and using how the… Read more »

Thanks for sticking with me, and all good wishes for the upcoming year!  

These small tips are my Season’s Greetings to you all!! And maybe I’m making a small statement about 2020? I hope you enjoy! Conflict and Tension Every story benefits by having high tension and strong conflict. First drafts are generally not high tension drafts – it isn’t until revision that I add as much tension… Read more »

The more I write, the more writing tips I collect. These little tips distill much larger thoughts on the writing craft down to understandable ideas, and I’m going to share a few with you over the next weeks. And if you are on Pinterest, check out my story boards on writing tips (thanks to Deb… Read more »

If you are lucky enough to live in a town with an independent bookseller (and they deliver or provide other pandemic-related services), I hope you support them. But if you don’t, I hope you’ll consider Bookshop as your online retailer for your book purchases. Bookshop supports indie booksellers by giving back a percentage of sales,… Read more »