Writing Lives…lots of them…all the time…day and night…awake and asleep…I can't control it…
My first novel – historical military fiction – made it to the top 10 of 9 of Amazon's bestseller lists. Via my blog I share what I have learned while writing two more.
Pop = 70%
I saw a question on a board the other day asking what does it mean to “practice writing”? This could be several things, but my view is that there are three things I practice. And to be clear, I think all writing is practice. Even the things I publish are not perfect. They were just good enough to publish.
Continue reading “How to write a book? Practice to improve your craft”
When we think about how to write a novel and to be a successful writer of fiction, we must understand the balance of showing versus telling in our work. This is one of the critical skills and one that we can learn. There is no formula, and we need to do both. The trick is to keep them in proper proportion.
Continue reading “When to “show” and when to “tell” in your fiction”
Came across this very cool post on StumbleUpon: 25 greatest Sci Fi novels ever. Check it out and see what you think. Nice summaries and engaging graphics.
Continue reading “The 25 Greatest Science Fiction novels ever? Damn close!”
Confused by all the different image sizes you need for your social media presence? Wish there was a simple tool to create the images you want?
Problem solved! I’m going to keep this simple by highlighting the best sources for both.
Continue reading “How You Can Optimize your Social Media and Blogging Images with these free tools”
Learning how to write well is more than just cranking out words in response to creative writing prompts. For instance, I’m sure you have gotten feedback in your fiction writing workshop (or writing studio or writer’s studio, which is the more popular term of the day) on a submission from someone who you thought was a self-serving ass. When it happens, your defenses immediately go up and you stop listening for anything constructive. At that point, it is a wasted exercise for you and the person providing feedback. As a young writer, this is not what you need.
Continue reading “How to Provide Feedback in your Creative Writing Workshop”
Which are the best Grammar Checkers? Which one is most helpful to you? Do you prefer a Microsoft Word Plug in or something that works online with Chrome, for instance? Do they help your writing craft?
I’m interested in your feedback. And your feedback will guide other writers to the most effective tools.
Vote in the Grammar Checker poll on the next page.
Continue reading “Best Grammar Checker Poll: Which one is most helpful?”
Text to Speech (TTS) software is a surprisingly powerful tool to help you improve your writing. Whether you are writing a book, poetry or a business letter, hearing your words will allow you to perceive your words and sentences in a different way. Reading what you have written is one mental process. Hearing your words is a different process. There are subtle but important differences between the two. Listening to your words will enable you to detect errors and clunky sentences in your writing that you can’t “see” when you read your work. There are Microsoft text to speech tools, but those are not the only ones. Find — and use — one that works for you.