Writing

2 Tips to Help You Sort Through Electronic Documents

2 tips for organizing your creativity on the big projects.

Online Clinic: Single Sentence Summaries February 2013

Carrie will host an online single sentence summary clinic in February. Authors are invited to submit one-sentence summaries on their current works-in-progress or finished novels and join the discussion.

Personal Writing Challenge – 15 Minutes A Day

Can a personal writing challenge really help you write your novel?

Making a List and Checking It Twice: How to Know If an Idea is Naughty or Nice

by Danielle Hanna In my last guest post here on Carrie’s blog, I mentioned using a combination of list making and what I call the “gut test” to draw the story out of a character. But what should go onto that list? And how do you know if your “gut …

2 Things to Do When a Character Takes Over

What do you do when a character takes over your novel?

5 Reasons to Keep Track of Word Count

1. Increased Productivity. Even if you don’t report your progress to anyone else, keeping a work count worksheet of some kind provides personal encouragement. Especially on those days when you might be tempted not to write. 2. Better Use of Writing Time. Tracking word count for an extended period of …

A Year in the Life – December 2012

December was a month of mixed reviews. While there were obstacles and struggles during the first half of the month, the story advanced nicely. I averaged over 2,000 words a day for each of nine writing days. I also finished seven chapters. The second half of the month began with …

5 Articles on Character Development

Characters are central to good storytelling. A good story is next to impossible with weak or poorly thought out characters. Some would say it is impossible. Here are links to 5 of our most popular articles on character development. 1. Working With New Characters 2. Character Arcs and Turning Points …

10 Top Posts for 2012

I’m officially taking the last two weeks of 2012 off to spend time with family and friends and to enjoy the Christmas season. I hope you’re able to do likewise. I want to thank you for your faithful follow-ship this year. This blog wouldn’t be what it is today without …

Characters – Where They Start; Where They End Up

Have you ever had a character who is constantly searching for the right story? One you instinctively like but for whom you can’t find a suitable story? What do you do with those characters? I’ve been writing stories for a long time. In fact, the first story I ever wrote …