I’ve been writing for as long as I can remember. I’m not sure what age I started to write down my thoughts, but my first memories go back to my early childhood. I remember writing my first fanfiction when I was about 13, and it involved a girl group based on the Spice Girls—no shame […]
Kill Your Darlings
Developing our characters is what we do as writers, but they can also be trouble. Maybe you created a particular character to be so annoying that you never want to see them again. Perhaps they’re so crucial to your story that you can’t even think about killing them. But, what is the best way to […]
Seeing the Negative Approach
Today’s blog goes hand in hand with last week’s post. One of my goals with these guides is to think about different ways to look at story development. You put your characters through the wringer in every way! Despite what some writers may claim, there is no such thing as a “right way” to approach […]
When the World Laughs
Every writer has a style, a personality that influences the way they write. Some may be fast and crude, others reserved and timid, and some may be witty. Some may even be all of the above! I took my pursuit of knowledge further and sat for my Masters of Fine Arts in Writing. It’s a […]
How to Self-Edit
Self-editing is an integral part of any writer’s craft. Looking back over your work, writing specific paragraphs or entire sections over again can often be the only way to evaluate whether or not your writing is strong enough for publication. The problem is that self-editing can be tedious and time-consuming. It can be tough to […]
Finding the Positive Tone
As someone whose job is to write things, it may seem odd that I’m offering this list. However, I’m not the type of person who looks for the negative in everything. It always seems to find me, though. When you first start out, you have to carefully consider your goals with the story. What are […]
Words That Describe Light
“Light” is an important word to describe. Light is often an integral part of what you are describing; this is particularly true when describing colors or lighting effects. So, when writing about light, it is vital to use the word accurately. There is an infographic floating around, and I’ve included it in text form because […]
Narrating Sounds
As a writer, I spend a lot of time describing things, and I’m always looking for new and exciting ways to do it. Through my research and experimentation, I have found that narrating sounds can be a powerful tool to describe a scene or set the tone of a work. Narrating sounds is the easiest […]
How to Chop Up a Manuscript
Happy New Year’s! I hope 2022 is better for all of us. Guilliean Adding – or deleting – a paragraph to a manuscript is an important question to ask. Some passages are deemed more important than others and some argue that removing a paragraph could change the entire tone of a novel, while a short […]