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setting and description

4 Tips for “Setting” a Mood — Guest: Becca Puglisi

Setting Thesauri covers with text: Creating a Mood with the Setting Thesauri

The Thesaurus books by Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi are a must-have for every fiction author, and they now have two new Thesauri books: Urban Setting and Rural Setting. Becca’s here today to talk about how setting is important for more than just describing the time and place of our scene.

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June 14, 2016

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What Goes into Building a Movie in Our Mind?

Movie screen in front of seats with text: The Difficulty of Creating Movies in Our Mind

Sometimes as authors, we struggle to create a well-rounded world or characters that feel so real to readers that they experience a movie in their mind. Stories that feel like we can crawl in and inhabit them are often lauded as special, but why is it so hard to succeed in that goal?

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April 28, 2016

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Brain Science: How Do You Imagine?

Theater curtain opening to reveal text: Featuring... Your Imagination

Aphantasia is the term for when someone can’t imagine something in their mind–“mind blindness” or not having a “mind’s eye.” As writers, this perspective not only gives us all sorts of story and character ideas, but it can also raise many questions about the concept of imagination itself.

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April 26, 2016

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Copyediting: When Little Changes Matter — Guest: Misti Wolanski

Close up of a water drop on a leaf with text: Getting the Little Details Right

Reader complaints about editing quality usually focus on grammar and word choice and usage. That potential of being called out in reviews is just one reason why copyediting is so important. Sometimes the wrong usage of a word or punctuation mark can even change the meaning of our writing, as Misti Wolanski is here to show us today.

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March 31, 2016

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How to Weave Story Elements and Avoid Info Dumps

Garbage can with text: No Info Dumps Allowed

Our stories consist of many elements—from backstory to dialogue—that each contribute to our story. Yet we can overdo those elements with an information dump. How can we include the different elements while making sure we don’t cross over into Info Dump Land? Let’s talk options…

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March 10, 2016

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Story Description: Finding the Right Balance

Landscape at sunset with text: How Much Description Is "Just Right"?

For every aspect of our story, we have to find the right balance. One element many writers struggle with is description: too little leaves our readers floating without an anchor, and too much drags our story’s pacing. So how do we find the right amount and know whether we need more or need to cut?

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February 23, 2016

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Strengthening Our Observation Skills — Guest: Laurel Garver

Observation Scope overlooking Toronto skyline with text: How to be a Better People Watcher

It’s usually best to avoid “naming” emotions in our writing and to show those emotions instead. But to put the Emotion Thesaurus’s emotional cues into our voice, we might need to add our own spin, like from our observations of the real world. Today’s guest post has tips for how to develop our observing skills.

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November 17, 2015

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Digging into Research: Consider the Source

Collection of historical documents with text: Getting It Right with Research

Last week, we talked about how we can add diversity to our stories in a respectful way, and no matter what kind of story we write, we’re probably going to need to research something. Whether we’re referring to an aspect of diversity, a setting, or a character’s job, we can’t know everything about everything.

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October 27, 2015

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