writing tips

June 14, 2017
June 14, 2017
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Blazing a Trail with Foreshadowing #WriterWednesday

Foreshadowing is a dramatic device writers use to tease an important plot point which we must return to before the story ends. Think of foreshadowing a little like foreplay. Only in the case of foreshadowing, we’re teasing a big twist in the story or an important piece of information which will affect the hero or heroine or both before the story ends. It’s important to remember that foreshadowing isn’t a red herring. Red herrings mislead, foreshadowing promises. So how do you use foreshadowing in your plot? The incident needs to be foreshadowed Significant events and information require foreshadowing. For example, if […]
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November 20, 2009
November 20, 2009
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Don’t Make Me Pull This Computer Over

One of the best things about being a writer is all the stories knocking around inside of my head. One of the worst things about being a writer is all the stories knocking around inside my head. When it is the former, I sit down to write and words just pour out to fill the metaphorical cup created by the blank screen or page. However, when it is the latter … Ding! Ding! In This Corner, Weighing In at 85,000 Words … Writing anything is like refereeing a cage match. For example, currently I am working on a fantasy romance, […]
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November 10, 2009
November 10, 2009
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NaNoWriMo: No More Excuses

My dog had to go to the vet. My car broke down. The kids weren’t cooperating. I didn’t have time today. It rained. Someone drove through my fence. Someone is sick. Life happens. First and foremost as anyone who works whether you’re a writer, a teacher, a store clerk, a doctor, a policeman or a solider – life happens. It’s messy and it gets in the way. Sometimes we miss out and some days we sweat fifty words out of our pores while other days we can fill the buffers on the word processors to overflowing with ideas. Do you […]
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November 9, 2009
November 9, 2009
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NaNoWriMo: Safety and Acceptance

According to The Artist’s Way a creative writer’s resource by Julia Cameron, “creativity flourishes in an atmosphere of safety and acceptance.” Earlier this weekend, I saw a twitter from a writer who was enormously frustrated by her lack of progress in this NaNoWriMo. She was choking from anxiety, every single time she sat down to write. We can exert enormous pressure on ourselves, sometimes too much pressure. Now, don’t get me wrong, I love deadlines (even those that come at you like a Mack truck). They can be invigorating, challenging to just write and get the words on the paper […]
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November 8, 2009
November 8, 2009
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NaNoWriMo: So You Want to Be a Writer

Shut up and write! Since my first book, The Path to Freedom, was published in September 2008, people have been approaching me about writing. I’ve both disappointed and inspired them. Some even at the same time. I’ll be the first to tell you that I didn’t know squat about writing when I wrote The Path to Freedom. What I did know was good entertainment. I wrote the book I wanted to read. I wrote the kind of story that would keep me glued to a movie screen if it were playing out. I wrote characters that had been forming in […]
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