Are the stakes of your story enough to get the reader turning the page? My definition of stakes is something your character risks or finds to be in jeopardy because of their own or someone else’s actions. Basically, the stakes are the external or internal problems...
Lots of authors think they hate formulas when it comes to writing. They say that structures are confining and stifle creativity. But they don’t have to. Story structures like the Hero’s Journey or Three Act or Fairy Tale style plots do not inherently limit how or what...
Today I need to write. I need to write at least 500 words on my current novel if I want to keep my momentum going. I need to write about writing for this blog and for my newsletters. I need to write the lesson plans for the next course I want to offer. So, I set aside...
When I was a kid, my favorite phrase was By Myself. I wanted to be independent. I wanted to be self-sufficient. I wanted to be left alone to do my own thing. In some ways, I haven’t really changed. In many ways, I still prefer to do things on my own...
It’s that time of year again. That time when we evaluate where we want our lives to go in this shiny new year. I won’t lie. Last year all of my goals revolved around my health. I had my final chemo treatment in January of 2022, and I was still facing 3 surgeries and 6...
Nothing says you don’t know the children’s market like querying a YA novel with a six year old protagonist or a fifteen year old middle grade. When I read a query or submission that says something like this, I immediately know that the author is either new to...
A pretty standard part of setting big, long-term goals is to chunk it up into a bunch of smaller goals. And what is writing a book if not setting a big, long-term goal? So, let’s chunk a book up into a bunch of smaller easier goals. First, set the major goal:...
I’m into watching TikTok right now. I know. I know. I’m too old. And for a lot of the stuff over there, I really am too old. I’m never going to be doing any fancy pants dances. My days of kicking up my heels passed when I hung up my pompoms. But one of the...
When we talk about characters, we always talk about their internal wants/needs as if the two are interchangeable concepts. We say that a character must have one to sustain their inner plot arc and that meeting this want or need is what propels the character to grow....