#authortoolboxbloghop

#AuthorToolboxBlogHop: In which I acknowledge that being an extreme introvert will only get me so far.

This past week, from March 14th to through the 18th, I attended session 1 of the 2018 Northern California Writers’ Retreat. I learned so much during those five days, and the experience was incredibly rewarding. But I am (still) very jetlagged as of writing this blog post, so the full rundown of the retreat will have to be saved for later. What I do want to talk about is the limits of being an…

“The setting of a story is defined as the time, place, and culture in which a story occurs.”

I speak the definition for my high school English class, then write it out by hand on my classroom SMARTBoard, a visual cue that my students need to add this tidbit to their notes because, yes, it will be on a test. I wait for them to solder this definition into their minds a little more firmly because,…

Learn How To Self-Edit #AuthorToolboxBlogHop Purpose Of A Scene

Thank you, Raimey Gallant for organizing the #AuthorToolboxBlogHop. Today is the 5th post of this new series!

This is a monthly blog hop on the theme of resources/learning for authors: posts related to the craft of writing, editing, querying, marketing, publishing, blogging tips for authors, reviews of author-related products, anything that an author would find helpful.

To continue hopping…

All the ways your dialogue isn't working #amwriting #writetip

Bad dialogue will ruin an otherwise great story. It can rip your reader right out of the setting or create one that feels false. It will kill your pacing by stealing the energy from a scene. Almost all bad dialogue suffers from the same few issues. Don’t fall into these common traps. Unrealistic Dialogue For dialogue to sound “right,” it needs to mimic actual speech. Consider: “Good morning,…

This month's #AuthorToolboxBlogHop: A post about why I make my own writing prompts.

As part of my 2018 writing and learning plan, I’ve started incorporating daily, 10-minute exercises in order to improve my writing. I have been good about completing the prompts so far, though I can’t say for sure if I’m making any progress. Still, the prompts have been good at getting me to write every day; I haven’t missed a day since the start of the year. In the past, whenever I looked for…

New #AuthorToolboxBlogHop post about my plan for learning how to write in 2018. (Wait, what?)

When I took a step back at the end of the 2017 to think about what I wanted to accomplish writing-wise in 2018, I reflected on the times I felt most excited about writing. As I was making my list, a specific trend emerged: I was most excited about writing when I felt I was learning the most about it. Whether it was through reading blogs in the Author Toolbox Blog Hop or taking classes with the…