Author: wildsoundwritingfestival

Raise your hand if you’ve ever written in a new supporting character just because, hey, somebody had to start that tavern brawl. Creating delightfully colorful, unexpected, and sometimes just plain convenient minor characters is half the fun of writing. 1,753 more words via Supporting Characters and Theme: 6 Important Questions to Ask About Your Story —… Continue reading Supporting Characters and Theme: 6 Important Questions to Ask About Your Story — Helping Writers Become Authors

Writing inspiration—so easy to take for granted when we have it, so hard to rekindle once we’ve let the flame go out. When I was young, I never questioned the fact that my imagination was a vivid and constant companion. 3,078 more words via 3 Life-Changing Rules for Finding More Writing Inspiration This Year — Helping… Continue reading 3 Life-Changing Rules for Finding More Writing Inspiration This Year — Helping Writers Become Authors

The Lie Your Character Believes. It’s the atom waiting to be split, the bomb waiting to go off, the change waiting to happen in your character’s life. 2,302 more words via 2 Different Types of the Lie Your Character Believes — Helping Writers Become Authors

Scenes are the building blocks of your story. As go your scenes, so goes your story. If the scenes present a solid chain of deliberate structure, that’s what your story will be. 2,038 more words via 6 Steps to Create Realistic (and Powerful) Scene Dilemmas — Helping Writers Become Authors

Some stories make me so mad. It’s not just that these stories are all technically “bad” in some way. Indeed, there are plenty of deeply bad stories I pass on by with hardly a second thought. 2,260 more words via Thoughts on How to Be Critical of Stories in a Way That Makes a Difference —… Continue reading Thoughts on How to Be Critical of Stories in a Way That Makes a Difference — Helping Writers Become Authors

These days, most authors identify with the title “authorpreneur.” In order to sell books, we have learned to wear multiple hats. We aren’t just writers, we’re marketers, bloggers, graphic designers, and more. 1,957 more words via The Professional Writing Resources I Use for All Parts of the Writing and Publishing Processes — Helping Writers Become Authors

When you’re geeky, you don’t always think like the people around you or answer questions in the usual way. A writing class I took asked us newbie writers to tell the class a little bit about ourselves. Here’s how I answered that: I am a multi-cellular, hairless, short-snouted, large-brained bipedal omnivore, evolved over millions of […]… Continue reading A Geek Answers, “Who Am I?” — Today’s Author

I run a series over on my blog, WordDreams, where I highlight a genre for each letter of the alphabet. Here’s the next in the series: The A to Z Challenge asks bloggers to post 26 articles on a themed topic. It’s supposed to be every day except Sundays during the month of April but […]… Continue reading Genres A to Z: O is for Owner’s Manual — Today’s Author

by Lauren Sapala I don’t know if it’s that time of year or what, but I’ve been getting a lot of emails from writers lately about finishing things. This is also a topic that comes up frequently in my coaching sessions with writers. Lots and lots of writers out there are terrified that […] via Three… Continue reading Three Types of Writers Have Trouble Finishing Things. Which One Are You? — A Writer’s Path

Stories come in every shape and size, and as an author, you bring your own expertise and experience to your tale. So when it comes to editing, you might not need the same sort of help as someone else. You might excel at catching grammar problems but struggle with writing the blurb, the back-of-the-book […] via… Continue reading The 7 Types of Editing Your Book Needs — A Writer’s Path