Fleshing out a thin story: thin conflict

In my previous post in this series, "Fleshing out a thin story: thin characterization," I discussed the ways in which manuscripts drafted hastily, such as during NaNoWriMo,...

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In sickness and in health: being a writer in flu season

I hope to return to my series on expanding underwritten manuscripts in the coming weeks. But since I'm sick, and my family is as well (on and off for about seven weeks now. Not...

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Fleshing out a thin story: thin characterization

Photo by  jackileigh at morguefile.com NaNoWriMonth has wrapped up, a time when many writers challenge themselves to write 50,000 words in 30 days. On question that often...

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Write What You Know and Then Some: Deep Research Methods

By guest author Marianne Sciucco Image credit: https://morguefile.com/creative/rikahi My daughter had been swimming for five years when I came up with the idea to write a...

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Developing story conflict when you are conflict averse

Some writers are just the nicest people. So nice, in fact, that they write fiction that bores you to tears. Why is it that all nice all the time makes such terrible fiction? Readers...

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Do you feel it? Emotions writing prompts

I've been hard at work on several collections of writing prompts that I hope to release in the coming months. Just for fun, I thought I'd give you a small taste of what's in store....

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Lessons Learned: Author School Visits

by guest Chrysa Smith Some schools do it every year. Others have never had an author come into their school to speak to their students.  Yet for me, it's the only way...

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Riffing on Classic Characters

by Franky A. Brown The Courtship by Charles Green. Wikimedia commons. My Austen Inspirations series is loosely based on Jane Austen’s works, some more than others. Emma’s...

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Scapegoats, girded loins and other weird idioms from the Bible

The other day, my teen daughter heard Alanis Morissette's "You Ought to Know" and got rather confused by a line in the lyrics. Image by svklimkin on morgeufile.com "Is she...

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Call for questions: how can an editor on call help you?

The new school year has begun, which always feels to me like a time for me to start new things, or in this case, restart old things. Back in 2009, one of my critique group...

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Make marketing graphics on a shoestring

I was fortunate to land a job early in my career that required me to learn graphic design. Between the professional seminars, how-to books, a very kind colleague who taught me...

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From Small Pub to Self-Pub: Rising Again from a Small Press's Ashes

with guest author Dusty Crabtree Phoenix art by Laura I know a number of author friends who were delighted to publish with a small publisher that felt like family. But in...

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