I've judged a few contests for published and unpublished authors over the years. Because I entered several contests this year, I paid a lot more attention to the judging process. Reviewing my own scoresheets made me a better judge. At least, I hope so. Things you may not know: 1. Your judge may have entered […]

I don’t usually enter contests, but I decided to go all out this year. During the past two months I’ve redefined my understanding of the experience from both the judging and entrant viewpoints. I hope this post will help you consider whether entering contests is in your best interest at this point in your career. […]

by Fae Rowen Skimming is defined as a crime. Well, it is. If you skim money from your job, you’re going to jail. Or worse depending on whom you work for. Skimming is also defined as removing floating matter from a liquid. Can you say pond scum? The third definition says, “To pass lightly and […]

We’re excited to announce that Writers In The Storm was named in the 15th Annual Writer's Digest "101 Top Blogs for Writers" list! And to show our thanks to our amazing guest bloggers and readers, we're throwing open the comments today for a little “Pimp and Promote.” How does this work? To quote Genie in Aladdin, "There are […]

  by Fae Rowen If you missed Part One or Part Two in this series on developing a character arc through believable backstory, no problem. Click on the part you missed to get caught up. Do you have a character whose arc has flatlined? Maybe you aren't using all of your character's backstory, so instead of […]