I’ve been writing since I was a kid, and I joined my first adult-level writer’s group while I was still a teenager. I’ve been teaching creative writing since 2008 and have been traditionally published since 2018. In short, I’ve amassed a ton of information about writing craft, the business of writing, and creativity as part of a balanced life.
My podcast, #SLAJRadio (Story Like a Journalist Radio) is a great place to start. Check out interviews with other creative types on how they harness their creativity, shape their ideas, and how they stay healthy despite long periods sitting or standing.
#SLAJRadio explores creativity across writing and various art forms, using observation techniques and the 5-W’s. Each episode title is phrased as a 5-W’s question.
The show is hosted by me, Amber Royer, author of the Chocoverse Trilogy and the Bean to Bar Mysteries. It is Produced and edited by Jacob Royer who blogs at Gardener’s Watch.
Story Like a Journalist is a textbook/workbook for novelists.
I know there are a lot of writing resources out there but I wrote this book because it filled a huge need I saw while teaching and coaching writers. The worksheets I have made over the years have been collected together with instructional chapters. This can be used either with my class through UTA or on your own. The book follows the Who, What, When, Where, Why, and How of writing and breaks them down so you can find the right worksheet for what you need for YOUR story.
Some students have worked their way through the entire book alongside completing their current writing project, which is fantastic, because the book functions as a writing class with covers, and the worksheets demonstrate different aspects of creative writing craft or of generating information novelists need to create a vivid world for their stories to take place. Others pick and choose the worksheets and attendant instruction needed to solve specific story problems as they arise.
Also Amber hosts the Saturday Night Write writing craft discussion group every third Saturday of the month. This is an online discussion group on Zoom. The link is posted on the Facebook group and the meeting is from 4:30 pm to 6:30 pm Central Time.