Turning Whine Into Goldby Kathryn Craft   Earlier this year I ran across a social media post by Lauren Vaknine that evokes a concern so common among writers I thought we might discuss it here (used with permission): “I watched the film Goodbye Christopher Robin last night, and seeing the adoration [A.A. Milne] got from […]

by Lisa Hall-Wilson Life is hard and as writers, we aren’t doing our jobs unless our characters struggle. Am I right? Good fiction isn’t borne out in the comfortable and easy living we might dream about, but in the tension and conflict between characters and/or their own desires. Giving a character a backstory that includes trauma […]

Some people talk about writing like they are chasing butterflies along the pretty garden paths of their manuscripts. Like their words frolic with Disney characters. They speak of churning out pages like a high-end laser printer. I am not one of those people. A few times a year I have one of those idyllic days […]

By Janice Hardy, @Janice_Hardy  Unless you're playing with a non-chronological story structure, plot unfolds as time marches on in a novel. It starts when the problem is discovered (more or less), and ends when the problem is resolved. But just because the story is in chronological order, doesn't mean we need to plot it that […]

by Orly Konig Are you guys done laughing at the title? Not yet? Now? Since the early months of 2018, I’ve been dealing with overcrowding in the brain-squirrel department. Revisions on what became Carousel Beach, marketing and launch of Carousel Beach, writing proposal chapters, family issues, starting a new book, summer schedule and multiple trips, […]