Top 7 of 2010: #1 Engaging descriptions reader's won't just skim

As 2010 draws to a close, so does my countdown of top blogposts of the year. The post below original appeared in April. I was pleasantly surprised that Mr. Maass himself stopped...

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Top 7 of 2010: #2 Writing compelling characters

The new year will soon be upon us, so I'm doing a little year-end retrospective on my top blogposts of 2010. Today's post appeared in September and was composed for Elena's blog...

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Top 7 of 2010: #3 Where have all the adults gone?

Welcome back to the final week of my countdown of top blog posts of 2010. This one appeared in January and generated some great discussion. I'd love for my new readers to chime...

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Top 7 of 2010: #4 Love at First Sight

It's Christmas Eve, so my countdown of top 2010 blogposts brings you a gift--some romance. This was originally posted on Valentine's day for the "Love at First Sight" blogfest...

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Top 7 of 2010: #5 Poet secrets

On we go with my countdown of the most popular posts of 2010 here at Laurel's Leaves. Today's repost originally appeared in April, National Poetry Month.= = = = = =I've been hesitant...

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Top 7 of 2010: #6 Antagonists of Many Flavors

Welcome to my countdown of my most popular posts of 2010. The entry reposted below originally appeared in March.= = = = =We hear again and again that without conflict, you have...

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Top 7 of 2010: #7 Motion and emotion

I have just seven more scheduled posts till year's end, so I thought it would be fun (and frankly more sane for me) to repost my seven most popular blogposts of 2010, minus the...

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Trope versus cliché

My Tuesday post, "No Mary Sues: operating at maximum capacity," was intended to get you all thinking about ways to keep your characters perpetually striving towards goals, or...

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No Mary Sues: operating at maximum capacity

In How to Write a D@mn Good Novel, James N. Frey says many plots lack integrity because the author doesn't have her characters acting at their maximum capacity.What does he mean...

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Friday fun day

My hubby and I have been geeking out big time on the latest season of Dr. Who, which at last became available on Netflix in November.How badly are we geeking out? Check out the...

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Let's talk numbers

Dear Editor-on-Call,My critique group always argues about how you should write time. 5 o'clock or 5:00 pm? And do you have to write out numbers, as in five thousand, or can you...

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A new approach to drafting: reel it

One of my CPs is a big advocate of experimentation to get through blocks when you're drafting. She says to keep trying things until something works. On its face, this idea sounded...

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Feature Friday

So many of my lovely blog pals keep a nice, consistent schedule. I haven't yet found one that works 100% for me, but I'm leaning towards T, Th, F. My Tuesday, Thursday posts would...

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Plot stuck? Rewind

When you hit a place where you just can't move your story forward, it's frustrating in the extreme. It's not like you have nothing to say, but rather that the next plot action...

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