I’m sharing a very basic character development worksheet today because I think it’s one great way to get to know your characters better! There are some very complicated worksheets out there, but even a simple one like this can lead you to better insights and even inspire plot points. I’m also sharing a trick for making a character lovable
Hey friends! I am still waiting on my edits for The Equinox Stone, and meanwhile, I’ve started collaborating on a book trailer for it. I originally hadn’t been planning on doing a second trailer, but since I’m getting YouTube subscribers due to my new series, Blank Page to Final Draft , I figured, why not? The trailer for The Equinox
A few weeks back, I spent some time on online forums where high school students were talking about applying to colleges. It was research for a very short scene in The Equinox Stone (and I am always guilty of over-researching in my writing.) I was really struck by how these kids seemed to think their future prospects and their whole
What is the definition of a fiction genre? It’s simply a category of literature. It determines, among other things, what shelf it sits on in a bookstore or a library. For readers, it’s good to be aware of different fiction genres. Sometimes we can widen our horizons and read a book in a genre we don’t often explore. For writers,
Hey friends! It’s WIP Wednesday, the first Wednesday of the month, when I share a little bit of a work in progress and invite you to do the same. The rules are pretty simple: post an excerpt in the comments section of 500 words or less, with no graphic content (some cursing is okay). No critiquing other people’s work—we’re often
Hi friends! This isn’t Halloween playlist per se, but I’ve gotten a couple of requests for it and I thought the week before Halloween would be the perfect time to post it. It’s a good writing playlist for horror, suspense, and mystery novels and screenplays, and it’s also good, intense music to listen to when writing a book with a
Hi, friends! At work, we are reading lots of manuscripts after an open submission period. That’s got me thinking about some of the common issues plaguing romance manuscripts. I often get emails asking, “Why is my novel getting rejected?” I want to help, because I’m a writer myself. But sometimes a combination of reasons led to the rejection, and unfortunately,