Holidays and Writing: Chaos, Inspiration, or Both?
Like many, this time of year, I’m often in the mood for Christmas-themed stories. So that’s a reminder that while holidays are chaotic, we might use them for writing inspiration.
Pin ItWant to Write with Diversity but Not Sure How? — Guest: Bran L. Ayres
When we want to write inclusively, letting our lazy brain rely on assumptions can lead to problems. Bran L. Ayres is here with resources and tools to help.
Pin ItGenre -Is- Worldbuilding
An article comparing the Arrival movie to its short story inspiration triggered me to see Genre differently. In short, our story’s genre is simply the worldbuilding “lens” we use to explore our story’s meaning.
Pin ItNaNo Prep: Getting a Handle on Our Story
To make NaNo work for us, we need to figure out our goals for the experience—and there’s no wrong answer. However, if our goal is to create a coherent story, we should try to understand story structure.
Pin ItDread Writing Sexy Scenes? 5 Tips for Success
Whatever genre we write, we often have to write scenes that make us uncomfortable. For many, sexy scenes are high on that discomfort scale.
Pin ItStory Tropes: Lazy or Helpful?
Every genre and medium of storytelling uses tropes, and they often have a bad reputation—for good reason. All too frequently, they can indicate lazy storytelling or worldbuilding. But they don’t have to be a bad thing.
Pin ItDo You Meet the Prerequisites to Be a Writer?
Are there prerequisites to call ourselves a writer? No. If you write, you’re a writer. Period. But when we pay attention to other writers, every writer—no matter how successful—could find something to feel inadequate about if we let our self-doubt get a hold of us.
Pin ItReconnecting with Our Passions: Storytelling
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.
Should We Follow the Advice to Write Every Day?
If we know other writers at all, chances are good that we’ve heard a lot of advice. One of the most common pieces of advice? According to dozens of multi-published, bestselling authors, it’s “write every day.” Do they know better than us what it takes to be a writer? Is that a must-listen rule?
Pin ItWhen Readers Don’t Believe Our Writing
One of the many reasons we need feedback is to help us fill in the blanks for things we can’t see or for understanding how others might interpret our words. But what happens when readers see our words and understand our intention, but they don’t believe what we’re telling them?
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