by Shannon Donnelly Years ago I was struggling to try and figure out how to write a synopsis. It took a lot of input from other writers, and some workshops, but I finally became comfortable with syopsis writing—and now it’s one of my favorite tools. I’m now doing my “Sexy Synopsis workshop again for Outreach […]

by Jessica Topper She keeps a lock of hair in her pocket She wears a cross around her neck Yes, the hair is from a little boy And the cross is someone she has not met Not yet This verse from The Black Crowes’ “She Talks To Angels” always stops me in my tracks. Even […]

  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 […]

During weeks like this, when I'm juggling a lot of commitments, I think a lot about work-life balance and how freaking hard it is to achieve. I got some perspective from a very unexpected source recently. I got my epiphany at work. Many of you know that I do adult education by day and I currently […]

by Laura Drake Okay, I admit it. I’m prejudiced against dialogue tags. Yes, I know they say, ‘He said/she said’ are invisible to the reader. They're not to me. Even if you don’t share my pet peeve, why settle for something so boring? You write a sparkling line of dialogue, and slap ‘he said’ on […]