Professional Author Tips

If you are struggling with your writing career – whether you have imposter syndrome, or are getting tons of rejections, or have the feeling that you’ll never write anything as good as the last book you read – you are surely fighting fears. I know these fears so well. In the “before times”, our local… Read more »

Publishing. The ugly part of the writing life. We writers love what we do. We sleep, eat, breathe our characters and plot lines, our worlds and our words. We spend years mastering craft, and more years digging deeper to try and tell the best possible story in the best possible way. And then, of course,… Read more »

I really love YouTube self-help videos. I’ve fixed the door latch on a microwave, figured out what was wrong with my dishwasher so I could tell the appliance guy what part to order, and decided which computer would be my next purchase. I also love Canva. I love design, and color – for me, playing… Read more »

This post is for both educators and writers. I hope it will be useful! Text Sets I had never heard of Text Sets until my friend Deb Gonzales directed me to Barb Rosenstock’s website. Barb has made Text Sets for her books, and they are an awesome teaching tool. Text Sets provide, in two pages,… Read more »

Confession: I think theme is the hardest thing to define when writing a story. Often I don’t know the true story theme until I’m well into revision. What’s that you say? How can I write a novel without knowing what I’m writing about? Great question. Starting With Character Honestly, I think all great stories are… Read more »

The other night I watched a movie I would never have watched, generally speaking. It was the original Fast and Furious. I’m not into cars, or gangs, or racing, or…any of that stuff. But I am into story-telling, and I was curious as to why this movie has spawned a franchise that has lasted even… Read more »

Last post I featured 5 favorite writing craft books, some old and some quite new. Today I have a pile of classics. Once again, you can order from my Bookshop store through my affiliate link (I do benefit from orders through this link). Here are five of the best: Story, by Robert McKee. Why I… Read more »

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 »