Cover Design: 4 Tips to Keep in Mind — Guest: Renee Wittman
Even if we’ve read cover-design advice before, there’s always more to learn. Here are a few insights from Renee Wittman we might not have thought of before.
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Aspirational Stories: Do They Reflect Your Hopes and Goals?
Aspiration is “a hope or ambition of achieving something,” such as we see with the #RelationshipGoals tags on social media. Not surprisingly, our hopes and goals are sometimes reflected in the stories we write or the books we read.
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What Do You Want to Write But Haven’t Yet?
We often have more ideas for stories than we actually write, and somehow, we choose and prioritize. Why might we not write a story idea that we’re passionate about—and is there anything we can do to overcome those reasons?
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Highlights from RWA18 (Including That Speech)
If you attended RWA18, these thoughts might be interesting. If you didn’t attend the conference, these highlights might help you feel a part of the experience.
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How to Develop and Show a Healthy Romance — Guest: Bran L. Ayres
Whether we want to know for real-life purposes or for our writing, Bran’s post today helps us identify elements of healthy romances. Authors need to be careful of sending readers the wrong message. Everyone deserves to be in a healthy, loving relationship—including our characters.
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Should We Include Trigger Warnings for Our Story — Guest: Bran L. Ayres
With the rise of self-publishing, we’ve probably seen books that label the content inside, but if we’re not sure whether we should consider using trigger warnings, Bran L. Ayres is here to share their insights and tips on why they’re important and how to use them.
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What Does #OwnVoices Mean for Authors and Readers? — Guest: Bran L. Ayres
Many readers want to read and support “own voices” stories, where authors share a marginalized trait with their protagonist, but authors can be uncomfortable with the label due to judgment or privacy concerns. Bran L. Ayres shares their tips for avoiding problems.
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The Best Reason to Blog — 2017 Edition
Encouragement, cheerleading, or just plain listening might seem simple or shallow…until that’s exactly what you need. Even if all you do is read my posts, you’re helping me.
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How Should We Deal with Character Stereotypes?
Clichés, tropes, and stereotypes all seem like signs of lazy writing. And they are—or at least, they can be. But it can be impossible to avoid all instances of stereotypical elements. So what should we do instead?
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7 Resources for History Research — Guest: K.B. Owen
Many stories require research on settings, characters, careers, or a story premise. The difficulties increase if we need to reference non-contemporary details. Today, historical fiction author Kathy Owen shares her top resources for researching historical details.
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