There are periods of time when I don’t write, when I’m in between projects and just need to let my words simmer for a while. When I’m not writing, I’m reading books about the craft, or I’m reading other writers’ works for sheer pleasure, or I’m marketing, which means I’m scheduling book events and blogging. …Read More
The Other Arc … by Brian Kaufman
The term character arc refers to the inner transformation of a novel’s character over the course of a story. A character begins the novel as a certain kind of person. As the plot progresses, characters react to developments in the story. By the novel’s end, each character is a different sort of person. The change …Read More
When is a Cozy Mystery Series Not a Cozy Mystery Series? … by Alice Duncan
When it’s my Daisy Gumm Majesty historical cozy mystery series! I swear this isn’t my fault. The idea for the series came to me in the early 2000s. The books were supposed to be cozy mysteries, and they were supposed to star a fake spiritualist-medium named Daisy Gumm Majesty, a young woman married to a …Read More
What’s going on at your #amwriting spot?
I’m sad to say not much actual writing has been going on in my favorite #amwriting place, which is my little office upstairs in the front corner of the house overlooking the court. I’ve hung out on social media a little, watched the pygmy nuthatch and the woodpecker jog up and down the tree out …Read More
How to Write Outside Your Experience … by Teresa R. Funke
I used to get this question all the time, “What’s a young woman like you doing writing about World War II?” It was said sometimes with simple curiosity and other times with a tinge of suspicion. How could I, a young woman writing about a war that ended more than twenty years before I was …Read More
WOMEN’S HISTORY MONTH – ARTISTS By Linda L. Osmundson
The story goes that when Mary Cassatt (1844-1926) told her father she wanted to be a painter, he said, “I’d rather see you dead.” Such was the mentality about women in the arts – writers, painters, sculptors – for centuries. Women’s History month will most likely skip over women who contributed to art history. What …Read More
Why Writers Procrastinate and 5 Ways to Avoid It … by Colleen M. Story
When Pat told me she struggles with procrastination, my first thought was, “you’re not alone.” Studies over the last few decades suggest that procrastination is on the rise. In the late 1970s, about 5 percent of the population admitted to being chronic procrastinators, whereas today, about 26 percent do. We don’t know why this might …Read More
My Tiny Writing Retreat … by Nancy L. Reed
They say writing retreats can spark creativity, detach a writer from everyday concerns, and provide a space to dream of author success. Organized retreats can be expensive, but I believe all writers can design an affordable, personal retreat for themselves. For example, one of my friends goes alone to his family cabin a short distance …Read More
How to Pick the Right Self-Publishing Path for You … by Teresa Funke
For many authors, the hardest thing about writing and publishing a book is knowing how to do it right. And when it comes to self-publishing, cutting through the confusion is a challenge. Most new indie authors also worry about making costly mistakes. I certainly made my fair share when I started self-publishing back in 2002. …Read More
Patience, My Writer … by Natasha Wing
When I do school visits with elementary students, I typically get asked, “How long does it take to make a book?” Fiction books in my mass market Night Before paperback series typically take two years to make from the writing to the printing. Both the illustrator and I are under deadline so we do our …Read More
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