[et_pb_section admin_label=”section”][et_pb_row admin_label=”row”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_text admin_label=”Text” background_layout=”light” text_orientation=”left” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid”] You’re having breakfast with your wife one morning when your cell phone buzzes on the counter across the room. You go to see who it is and find it’s a text from your wife—who is sitting at the table and whose phone is next to…
Treat Your Writing Sessions Like Business Meetings — Quick Writing Tip
[et_pb_section admin_label=”section”][et_pb_row admin_label=”row”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_text admin_label=”Text”] Look, I get it — you’re a creative person. You’re a writer, for Pete’s sake! You want to tell stories and birth characters and create entire worlds. Maybe you outright begrudge the other things that modern writers “have to” do: building a website, engaging in social media, making book covers,…
Daily Writing Prompt #20
[et_pb_section admin_label=”section”][et_pb_row admin_label=”row”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_text admin_label=”Text” background_layout=”light” text_orientation=”left” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid”] You’re unpacking in the kitchen of your new house when you hear a door slam closed upstairs. You sprint up the stairs and find that all of the doors—bedrooms, bathrooms, closets—are open. [/et_pb_text][et_pb_post_nav admin_label=”Post Navigation” in_same_term=”on” hide_prev=”off” hide_next=”off” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid”] [/et_pb_post_nav][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][/et_pb_section]
30-Day Writing Challenge Can Change Your Life — Quick Writing Tip
[et_pb_section admin_label=”section”][et_pb_row admin_label=”row”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_text admin_label=”Text”] I don’t often proclaim my affections in public, but … I love NaNoWriMo! (“National Novel Writing Month,” if we’re being formal.) There. I’ve said it. In case you’re not familiar with this beauty, NaNoWriMo invites you to spend the month of November writing the first draft of your novel. In…
How to Use Marinara Timer to Boost Your Word Count Every Day
[et_pb_section admin_label=”section”][et_pb_row admin_label=”row”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_text admin_label=”Text” background_layout=”light” text_orientation=”left” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid”] One of the best ways to move your writing forward when you feel stuck is to set a timer and just write your butt off for 15-30 minutes at a time. Don’t check your email, don’t stop to edit, and don’t even pause to think….
How Much Detail Should You Use to Describe Your Main Characters?
Writers tend to fall in love with our main characters, and for good reason — we spend weeks, months, or years with them, and they drive our plots forward. It’s not surprising, then, that our first instinct is to describe our protagonists’ physical features down to the last bit of peach fuzz on their cheeks….
Build a ‘Cone of Silence’ to Boost Writing Productivity — Quick Writing Tip
[et_pb_section admin_label=”section”][et_pb_row admin_label=”row”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_text admin_label=”Text”] Writer’s have faced a myriad of distractions for centuries, but the modern breed is arguably more besieged by distractions than any of our predecessors. From televisions to screaming children to cell phones to the lure of the Internet on our laptops, the next writing roadblock is never more than a…
Nuke Writing Obstacles to Reach Your Dreams — Quick Writing Tip
[et_pb_section admin_label=”section”][et_pb_row admin_label=”row”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_text admin_label=”Text”] No matter what your goals are in life, you’re going to encounter obstacles. If you want to become a doctor, for instance, your list of hurdles might include: Pulling good grades in high school Nailing the SAT Getting into a good college Financing college Getting good grades in college Nailing…
How Much Should You Write Every Day?
When the word gods bestowed upon a young Enheduanna the gift of cuneiform, they said unto her, “Thou shalt write for a minimum of three hours and produce at least 1253 words every day.” That’s why aspiring authors everywhere still use those numbers as a benchmark and strive to boost their word counts and butt-in-chair time…
Daily Writing Prompt #19
[et_pb_section admin_label=”section”][et_pb_row admin_label=”row”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_text admin_label=”Text” background_layout=”light” text_orientation=”left” use_border_color=”off” border_color=”#ffffff” border_style=”solid”] You head to your car after work one dark October night and, as you approach, you notice the vehicle rocking back and forth on its shocks. It also seems to be growling, and a huge, thick feline tail whips out from behind the trunk. [/et_pb_text][et_pb_post_nav…