Where Normal Need Not Apply
In my last post, we talked about struggling to write when suffering from burnout. Maintaining a connection with our passions can help us endure the problems of life, and remembering how and why we have passion for writing might help us recover from burnout.
Certain types of reading are sometimes valued more than others. One descriptive term that’s often used as a put-down for genre stories is escapism, but is romance or any other genre story really “escapism”? What does that mean? Is escapism a “bad” thing, and if so, why?
Pin It
What makes a story *not* frivolous? If it’s gritty and dark? Has emotional depth? Or does it need to be “serious literature”? Can a story be light and yet weighty at the same time? Today, Kassandra Lamb shares her insights on how we can add meaning to our stories.
Pin It
Theme is one of those concepts that can be hard to understand, but by understanding themes, we’ll better satisfy our readers. In the recent debate about the romance genre’s requirement for a happy ending, the controversy comes down to themes, believe it or not. *smile*
Pin It
We all have emotions, so we all think we know how to write them. However, sometimes the best writing comes from exposing an emotional truth that we’re hiding from ourselves. So the better we understand emotions, the better our stories will resonate with our readers.
Pin It
One of the things I mentioned last time to soften the frustration we might feel for not reaching our goal yet is that life is a journey. There is no finish line. So if we’re constantly comparing where we are now with where we want to be for our goals or dreams and being frustrated about that gap, our life will feel lacking. Always.
Pin It
People tend to like nice round numbers like 5s and 10s, so reaching the five-year point on my blog feels like a major milestone. That means now might be a good time to look back at what I’ve learned over those five years, and share what those lessons might tell us about the rest of our writing career.
Pin It
One of my most popular posts is for my Romance Beat Sheet, but one of my readers asked if I could create a Scrivener template to go along with the Romance Beat Sheet. Yes! If you’re a romance author and use Scrivener for drafting your stories, today’s post is for you.
Pin It
Every month or so, there’s an author or blogger or journalist making news by putting romance stories down. “They give women unrealistic expectations!” they say. Right. Are they unrealistic because romances end with love and a Happily Ever After? Or do the naysayers think true love isn’t possible or that it isn’t powerful enough to conquer and overcome obstacles? That’s just sad.
Pin It
We often talk about how reading is subjective. But we don’t usually talk about how writing is subjective as well. The genres I enjoy writing and the stories I like to tell aren’t the same that others enjoy or like to write. That’s a good thing. If everyone wrote the same genre, readers looking for something new and different would be left out.
Pin It
