Whether you’re in a workshop group, volunteering as a beta reader, or helping out a fellow writer as a critique partner, the art of giving a constructive writing critique is very important. All writers need input on their writing, and your feedback will be most effective if you give some thought to how you frame and deliver it. Throughout my undergraduate and graduate degree, workshops were a vital part of my education. I’ve also developed my practice through six years or so as a beta reader/critique partner for numerous writers. Below are the three ways I’ve learned to best give...
Do you have a writer friend? Have you ever tried to write a joint story, or ever wanted to? Over the past four months, my friend Anneka Freeman and I have been cranking out a first draft for a dual project (mostly just for fun, but we’ll see). Keeping separate copies of the story on separate hard drives can get messy, so we opted to use Google Docs (even though we are both avid Scrivener fans). Below are some of our tips for how to use Google Docs to the max! Make a System The most important principle to any...
You’ve finished your first or second draft. Huzzah! Your plot is fairly intact, your characters’ arcs are in order, and you’re ready to begin revising hardcore. At this point, I like to pull out my friend the chapter revision checklist. After years of revising, trying not to forget any key elements, I finally sat down and put this together. Now whenever I pull out my pens and start tearing into chapters, I have this beside me to make sure I have my bases covered. Click the picture to get the full size. Or click here for a print-friendly black and...
Last spring, the Roman Baths Museum in Bath, England, approached my MA program and asked the students to write short stories about the Beau Street Hoard—a real live treasure hoard discovered across the street. The museum wanted to make the discovery exciting for kids, so they turned to us to come up with short stories about how the hoard came to be buried. I was super excited about this project. I love historical fiction and I love the Roman Baths. But when I sat down to write a story in no more than 2000 words, about a time period I...
There are approximately 24,594 articles and blog entries out there about traditional vs. indie publishing, so if you’re looking for that debate this post won’t help you much. Instead, I’ve focused on hunting up some good links to give you the low-down on what you might need to know about how traditional publishing works. From publishing house basics to tips on researching literary agents, these links will help you get educated about the traditional publishing journey. Enjoy! 1. How a Book Gets Published For a first time author, a book generally starts with a completely finished and polished manuscript for...
My sister, the writer/illustrator for The Silver Eye, put together a list of questions to ask her character couples. I’ve tidied them up, added a few of my own, and present them now for your brainstorming usage! Character chemistry is one of the most important elements in a story. These questions can help you flesh out your couple’s/couples’ relationship(s), find some hidden details to use in your tale, and discover more about your characters in the process. Though the list is written in the past tense, I’ve found it really helpful for planning upcoming scenes and matchmaking possibilities. Enjoy! Basic Information What...
Young writers are awesome. Talking to them makes me excited all over again about my projects — and theirs! If you want to encourage a young writer in your life, bribery gifts are always appreciated. These can be great for birthdays, Christmas, or even something like CampNaNoWriMo(*), which just so happens to be around the corner. Here’s a wishlist to help you celebrate the young (and average-aged) writer(s) in your life: Pilot Varsity pack on Amazon 1. Fancy Pens There’s nothing quite like having fancy pens, especially fancy colorful pens. Pilot Varsity offers an assortment of disposable fountain pens that won’t break the...
My 10 Writing Resources: Characters was the beginning of a series where I compile some of my favorite creative writing links from around the web. Here I present the second post of the series: 10 writing resources I like to keep in mind while I’m drafting. From tools to keep your creativity churning to the basic elements of dialogue and POV, these links will help you get through your first draft. Enjoy! 1. The What If: A List Method for Getting Unstuck It’s inevitable that at some point in the writing process, we’re going to get stuck. Even for...
I primarily enjoy writing (and reading) fantasy. It’s wonderful when your head is full of another world, with all the culture and worldbuilding attached. But getting necessary information about this crazy awesome world across to your reader can be hard. Really, really hard. The best worldbuilding is done in a steady trickle, so soft the reader doesn’t really know how they know the information. I’m not there yet. Instead of a gently flowing, melodious stream, I often find myself taking a hammer to my readers’ brains and being like, “NOTICE THIS, IT’S IMPORTANT.” This, my friends, is an infodump. An...
There comes a point in every writer’s journey where every idea, every sentence, every word seems to suck. When writing is no longer sunny meadow frolicking, but the Cliffs of Insanity. The first thing to do is remind yourself: Every writer ever in the history of the world has been where you are. Everyone has hated their writing at some point. Or multiple points. Or pretty much all the points. So. Keep that in mind. Give yourself permission to suck. That’s what it’s all about. But if you are desperate for new ways to move forward, there are some methods...
