Capitalization Conundrum

Dear Editor-on-Call: When should you capitalize a noun such as "the Virus"? In my WIP, the characters refer to a virus which ended up wiping out most of the human population....

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Inventing a language to enrich your fictional world

by guest author Lauren H. Salisbury Tolkien deployed invented languages to enrich his fantasy. There’s nothing better than opening a new book and being swept away into an...

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Career advice for young people interested in writing

This does NOT have to be you, young writer! Over the years, I've had a number of friends reach out asking for me to speak with their child or cousin or niece/nephew who loves...

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Writing a tenacious faith: Interview with author Aleigha C. Israel

1. Tell us a little about how this story first came to be. Did it start with an image, a voice, a concept, a dilemma or something else? “A Marvelous Redeemer” is the last book...

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Misplaced modifiers: what are they and how do you fix them?

Dear Editor-on-call, I got this comment in a critique of mine and I have NO idea what it means. Could you shed some light? I feel so stupid, but I just don't get the terminology:...

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Tips for taming run-on sentences

Dear Editor-on-call, I'm weak when it comes to run-on sentences. Can you help? Sincerely, The On-Runner Dear Runner, You are in good company. Run-ons are one of the three...

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Stakes and the inner arc

I've read a few YA novels recently that left me a little cold. As I thought about why, I realized one aspect of all the stories was underdeveloped or nonexistent--the inner...

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Growing stories from personal hardships

Laurel's note: I asked today's guest, "What unique life experiences have shaped the topics and themes in your writing?" Cleo's experiences with loss and hardship have given her...

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Kiss Writer’s Block Goodbye by Using Personal Experiences

Photo by Heather Cannon. Used with permission. How to Use Your Life in Your Fiction By guest author Lila Diller Can I write about what happened to me? What should I keep...

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Discerning your genre: MG, EYA or YA?

By guest Shannon L. Mokry So you want to write a children’s book, but you don’t know where to begin? First get those ideas on paper, just the basic outline or concept to start...

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8 Aspects You Are Missing in Your World-Building

by guest Kandi J. Wyatt As you open the pages of a good book, you are beckoned into a new world, a place where magic may exist or where people travel between planets on trains....

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Editor on call: using then/than and lose/loose

Today I'm addressing two pairs of "spelling challenge" words a reader asked me to discuss. These pairs perplexed me a bit, because they aren't actually homophones. But because...

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Drawing from the well of experience

The writing habit can be difficult to maintain when you are experiencing a lot of stress. Creativity happens best in states of relaxation, says Roseanne Bane in Around the Writer's...

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