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Writing Tips

tension-as-uncertainty
Writing Tips

Tension as Uncertainty

No matter what your genre, maintaining tension is key to keeping readers engaged.  Too often, I read work where there is something lacking in a scene, and the writer is trying to fix it by resorting to exaggerated emotions (shouts and slaps when the dialogue itself would be impact enough…

language-learning-in-literature-and-life
Writing Tips

Language Learning in Literature and Life

As a language learner, things can get a little overwhelming at times.  Having a conversation one-on-one in a second language can be hard enough, but being dropped into an on-going conversation takes everything to the next level.  I still remember the first time I got into a…

promises-to-the-reader-avoiding-the-empty-doughnut
Writing Tips

Promises to the Reader: Avoiding The Empty Doughnut

I’ve been binge-watching past episodes of Master Chef. In one challenge from a few seasons ago, the contestants were supposed to make a dozen doughnuts. Some of them went a bit nuts with it – one contestant did twelve different flavors. Some of them came up with elaborate fillings…

sticking-the-landing
Writing Tips

Sticking The Landing

When you watch a gymnast doing a parallel bars routine, it is easy to get caught up in the grace and the power – coupled with an I-could-never-do-that kind of awe.  Nothing ruins that experience – or the gymnast’s score – faster than failing to stick the landing…

symbolically-speaking
Literary Terms, Writing Tips

Symbolically Speaking

When I start talking about literary devices in my writing classes, the discussion inevitably comes around to whether or not the authors of various works were using them intentionally – or if these literary effects came about by accident.  I believe that it is a combination of both:  often I don…

kintsugi-and-the-fine-art-of-the-character-arc
Musing, Uncategorized, Writing Tips

Kintsugi and The Fine Art of the Character Arc

In real life, we resist change.  But our characters get pushed to change by the plot.  Some characters embrace change, and are more than ready to undertake a hero’s journey. Typically, though, protagonists don’t like change – especially difficult, painful change — any more than you do. &nbsp…

guest-blogger-bud-humble
News, Writing Tips

Guest Blogger: Bud Humble

We have Bud Humble as our guest speaker for Saturday Night Write on March 16, 2019. So I thought I’d invite him to stop by the blog. He will be discussing The Benefits of Hands-On Research.So here’s what I asked Bud:Hi Bud!Hey Amber! Thank…

worldbuilding-is-people
Musing, Writing Tips

Worldbuilding is People

Part of worldbuilding – whether you are writing an epic Sci-Fi story or a quiet romance – comes down to designing people.  Everyone is shaped by their surroundings, be they a small town in Montana or the confines of a space station.  Clothing, customs, economic structures – all of these were designed…

poetictechniqueforprosewriters
Writing Tips

Poetic Technique for Prose Writers

Blog Post – Poetic Technique for Prose WritersI love language.  The sound of words.  The way a pause can imply a character taking a breath.  The way a strong image can stay with you for days. The fact that I as a writer can tell you how my character feels…

the-freedom-of-the-first-draft
Musing, Writing Tips

The Freedom of the First Draft

I hope everyone survived NaNoWriMo.  How’d you do?  Even if you didn’t hit 50K, I hope you enjoyed the experience, especially if it was your first time.  And you now have more words than you started the month with.The thing I love about NaNo is the need…

i-gotta-be-me
Literary Terms, Writing Tips

I Gotta Be Me!

Character agency refers to a character’s ability to make decisions that affect the outcome of a story.  But it also refers to a character’s freedom to be themselves in the story world.  They’re going to want to walk their own path, wherever that leads them.It’s…

whos-your-protag
Literary Terms, Writing Tips

Who’s Your Protag?

If you’re writing a book with multiple viewpoints, sometimes it can be confusing to figure out who’s story this is.  You may have a character that’s fun to write, or one that feels like they should be the protagonist based on genre conventions.  But are they really…

narrative-as-interpreter-in-fiction-writing
Literary Terms, Writing Tips

Narrative as Interpreter in Fiction Writing

When we’re talking fiction writing, what really is narrative?  It’s everything that isn’t action and isn’t dialogue.  Which means it’s the glue that holds it all together.More directly, narrative is how we help the reader interpret the action and the dialogue.  We given them…

permission-to-laugh
Writing Tips

Permission to Laugh

I know they said not to take selfies with bears . . . One of the hardest things about humor writing is giving your reader permission to laugh.  After all, you’re putting your protagonist in embarrassing, and sometimes physically painful, situations.  The last think your audience is going to want is to…

a-writer-reads-always
Musing, Writing Tips

A Writer Reads, Always

“If you don’t have time to read, you don’t have the time (or the tools) to write. Simple as that.” ― Stephen King“It is what you read when you don’t have to that determines what you will be when you can’t help it.” — Oscar Wilde“I…

well-i-wasnt-expecting-that
Literary Terms, Writing Tips

Well, I wasn’t expecting THAT!

This whole month, I want to talk about the relationship between writing and reading.  I’ve talked to so many writers who say they don’t read inside their own genre because they’re afraid of copying someone else’s idea.  (More on this later – I’m planning an entire…

freytags-pyramid
Literary Terms, Writing Tips

Freytag’s Pyramid

In 1863 Gustov Freytag, first known as a playwright and later a novelist, published Die Technik des Dramas.  (Released in English much later as Freytag’s Technique of the Drama: An Exposition of Dramatic Composition and Art.)  While his novels reflected some of the ugliness and turbulence of the time…

back-it-up-and-keep-it-organized
Writing Tips

Back it up and keep it organized!

I just want to offer a quick public service announcement.Writers, is your work backed up somewhere?  If no: rectify that immediately.  I know you never think a computer crash is going to happen to you, but everyone thinks that until it happens to them.  Even new computers can have…

well-darlings-youre-weighing-us-down
Literary Terms, Writing Tips

Well, Darlings, You’re Weighing Us Down . . .

“Kill your darlings, kill your darlings, even when it breaks your egocentric little scribbler’s heart, kill your darlings.” – Stephen King (not the first person to say it, but perhaps the most ominous)It’s a common piece of advice to give to beginning writers, and it’s been attributed…

but-i-never-got-to
Literary Terms, Writing Tips

But I never got to . . .

I’m a big believer in the promises-made-to-your-reader philosophy of writing.  It’s the idea that readers file away everything you’ve laid out in the first few chapters of your story – and they expect you to follow up on it.  To see how this extends…

this-things-important-right
Literary Terms, Uncategorized, Writing Tips

This Thing’s Important, Right?

One of my favorite books from the Children’s Lit classes I took in college was Treasure Island.  Stevenson stuck with me as an example I wanted to emulate, because nothing in that book is wasted.  Every piece of foreshadowing pays off, every bit of character development comes into play…

ready-set-goal
Uncategorized, Writing Tips

Ready, Set, Goal!

Have you set goals for the coming year?  Most of us look at a new calendar, fresh with unspoiled pages, as an opportunity.  It’s a reset.  A chance to think about what we want to develop in our lives, what we are ready to let go.  A story offers…

dross-and-hero-stuff
Musing, Writing Tips

Dross and Hero Stuff

Can we be brutally honest?  As a writer, you simply cannot be a nice person – at least not when it comes to your characters.  There is no quicker way to lose reader interest than to present characters who never face failure or loss, who are never in danger, who never…

to-wiki-or-not-to-wiki
Musing, Writing Tips

To Wiki or Not To Wiki

So before I started teaching writing, I was a Youth librarian.  And as everybody says, you can take the girl out of the library, but you can’t take the library out of the girl.  Especially when it’s someone like me.  I was always the one chasing down the…

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