Writer, Reviewer, and Mom
So, I mentioned in one of my more recent blog posts that it’s important to understand if you’re a plotter or a pantser. I gave a short definition there, but I wanted to break it down further and really explain why it matters. For my purposes here, I’m specifically referring to writers, though I’m sure …
If you’re a writer, you’ve definitely heard the advice, “Show, don’t tell.” It’s impossible not to hear it. It’s everywhere. It’s in articles about the best writing advice, and it’s in articles about terrible writing advice. So, which is it? Well, it can be either depending on your understanding of the phrase. Most people parrot …
Ugh. The first draft. The bane of every writer’s existence whether you’re a creative writer, a blogger, or really any type of writer. Everything you write has a first draft. I posted a quote on Instagram yesterday that really speaks to me when it comes to first drafts. First drafts have inherent problems because they’re …
Most writers cannot afford to stay home and write all day. The majority of us balance writing with our daily lives, including work, managing a household, and maybe even kids. This can make writing seem like a chore because you’re exhausted. So, how do you balance writing and life? Create manageable goals By manageable, I …
I’m going to preface this by saying while it’s important to know how to self-edit, you often need both self-editing and professional editing. This depends on what you’re writing. If you’re a blogger, you probably don’t need a copyeditor. If you’re writing a book, you definitely will at some stage. Regardless, you need a polished …
Worldbuilding is intense. For those of you who don’t know what it is, it involves creating a world specific to your story. It means a lot of dedication and attention to details. You have to think about whether you’re going to create a language and what kind of government you’re going to have. I could …
While I was working in higher education, we would spend time discussing what type of writing feedback to give students on their first draft. What kind of feedback is important? What kind of things do we ignore until a later draft? Or ignore completely? This ties into my blog post from a couple of years …
I’ve had several conversations about this the last month or so. Despite how much many of us love writing, pushing out the words can be a struggle. I offer you my top three tips to help you motivate yourself to write. Accept that Your Work Won’t Be Perfect You might hear this one frequently, but …
I’m going to state right off the bat that I am not a fan of writing in the first person. I’ll explain why in this post. First of all, first person point of view is writing your story with “I.” For example, “I went to the store” versus “you went to the store” (second person) …
I’m a big fan of character-driven stories, meaning I’m a big fan of taking the time to develop characters for your story before plot. If you come up with a plot and then try to make characters fit, it reads as less organic, and you might be shoving characters into spaces that don’t work for …