by Sarah (Sally) Hamer

Most writers have heard of the Hero’s Journey; a basic structure of how stories have been told from the beginning of storytelling. We always start with a protagonist, whether a hero or a heroine, who has some sort of a quest, and has to learn lessons, gain allies, create enemies, and fight a huge battle at the end.… Read the post

by Sarah (Sally) Hamer

Yes, there are right ways and wrong ways to kill a character in a fiction story. And, even if we're working with non-fiction and telling a true story, we might still need to determine how to tell how a character will die.… Read the post

By Sarah (Sally) Hamer

Writers often talk about opening a vein, giving our life-blood to a page. But is that all we give when we write? Writing takes time, effort, research, digging through memories, skill, emotion, and, possibly, even a little bit of our soul.… Read the post

by Sarah (Sally) Hamer

Writers are notorious for spending a lot of time alone, sitting too long in front of a computer, not socializing, and just not taking care of their health. These habits often get even worse during November because of NaNoWriMo.… Read the post

by Sarah (Sally) Hamer

Of course, the easy answer is: As many as it takes. (Really helpful, right?)

The problem answer is: It depends on many things.

What Is a Scene?

First, let’s define a scene. In most stories, it’s a small section of the main book, which can be anything from super short (under a page) to super long (the entire book – although I don’t recommend it!).… Read the post