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When Is a Story Worth Writing? – Part One

Tree growing from book

Every story begins with an idea.  Sometimes this idea comes to authors out of the blue.  Sometimes a dream provides the spark.  Sometimes “people watching” or an overheard conversation will trigger the thought.  But no matter where it comes from, the idea kicks off everything else, like a seed from which […]

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January 18, 2011

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What Do Readers Expect?

Sad girl

We’ve all been disappointed at some point during our lives.  As a child, I once discovered my Christmas presents early, hidden in my parents’ closet (it was by accident, I swear!).  My fingers ached to play with all those toys and I couldn’t wait for the big day. But when […]

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December 23, 2010

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Rejection Dejection

Rejection Letter

We all have to deal with rejection in our lives, and it hurts to not get the job we want, the relationship we want, or the agent we want.  In fact, it sucks.  But as trite as it sounds, it really is better to try and fail than to not […]

November 30, 2010

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Critique Week: Building a Relationship

Steel Truss Bridge

During this two-week long Critique Week extravaganza we’ve looked at how criticism can help us improve, we’ve learned what a successful critique partnership looks like, and we’ve identified our strengths and weaknesses so we’ll recognize our perfect critique partner.  Now let’s put that all together and talk about how to […]

September 22, 2010

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Critique Week: Finding the Perfect Critique Partner

Step Pyramid

It’s probably a given that all good writers want to get even better.  Last week, I talked about how we can use criticism to improve our work, and I gave a peek inside a successful critique partnership. My critique partner and I work very well together, and we certainly lucked […]

September 20, 2010

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Critique Week: Secrets of a Critique Partnership

Fiction Groupie Blog Logo

Today marks a milestone for me.  My first ever appearance guest-posting on another blog.  Woohoo! I’m at Roni Loren’s blog today with a post on a critique partnership that works: mine.  With help from my critique partner, Margeanne Mitchell, I put together a humorous peek inside our relationship and tried […]

September 16, 2010

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Critique Week: Making Criticism Work for You

Columned Hallway

Are you *gasp* less than perfect?  Hey, it happens.  I know I’m not the only one. No matter what aspect of our life we’re talking about, whether we’re in search of parenting advice, the secrets to magic tricks, or kicking our writing up a notch, we can read, experiment, and […]

September 14, 2010

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Do You Know What Will Make You Happy?

Coin-op Binoculars

My blog-home-away-home, Edittorrent, had another thought-provoking post yesterday.  You really should go read it, but if you don’t have the time, their point boils down to this: Know what will make you feel like a success as a writer.  I think this same idea can apply to just about anyone—not […]

August 18, 2010

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