Ready or not, Prep-tober is wrapping up and NaNoWriMo is upon us. We have created our plot outlines, made character info sheets, and brainstormed worlds and extra details. What’s left is organizing yourself to ensure NaNo success! This week, we have guest Author Erin Thompson providing useful insights, including ways to psych yourself up andContinueContinue reading “Preptober Week Four: Organization and Time Management – With Guest Author Erin Thomson”
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Preptober Week Three: World Building and Extras
So far, we have focused our preptober efforts on the dual arm of plot and character, but those are not the only two considerations while planning a story. This week is to prep all the remaining details that are pertinent to your story. Planning out the rest of this “stuff” includes world building, but itContinueContinue reading “Preptober Week Three: World Building and Extras”
Preptober Week Two: Characters
Welcome to the second week of Preptober! This week, I’m focusing on developing my characters. Download the Preptober Calendar Believable characters are unique and three-dimensional, but there’s a lot to consider. Each character has specific attributes, like appearance, personality, and a backstory, that make them relatable. A character’s motivations inform their actions and decisions, creatingContinueContinue reading “Preptober Week Two: Characters”
Preptober Week One: Concept and Outlining
Happy week 1 of Prep-tober! Throughout this month, I’ll have a theme for each week to help you prep for NaNoWrimo. Week 1 – Concept and OutliningWeek 2 – CharactersWeek 3 – World Building and ExtrasWeek 4 – Organization and Time Management Download my prep-tober calendar here! If you are reading this and wondering whatContinueContinue reading “Preptober Week One: Concept and Outlining”
Why Show vs. Tell is So Important: With Guest Author Melissa Frey
This month’s featured guest author is the lovely and talented, Melissa Frey. Not only has she indie released multiple books, with her latest release published last month, she is also a superior resource for writing craft and development. She hosts writing mastermind courses, and there is even one all about this very topic of “showContinueContinue reading “Why Show vs. Tell is So Important: With Guest Author Melissa Frey”
Character Shorthand: Tips for Crafting Memorable Characters with Brevity
Writers are artists who paint images in the mind of a reader with little more than the written word. Powerful stuff. Though, our readers actually do a lot of the work. Readers have this little thing called imagination that takes our words and plays it like a movie in their head. They don’t need usContinueContinue reading “Character Shorthand: Tips for Crafting Memorable Characters with Brevity”
Publishing in the Summer: with Guest Author Zara Hoffman
Summer might be winding down, but some of you might be wondering if this is a good time of year to publish their work in progress. The answer might vary depending on if you’re an indie versus a trad author. I’m excited to share this amazing guest post all about publishing during the summer, byContinueContinue reading “Publishing in the Summer: with Guest Author Zara Hoffman”
Book Marketing like a Bad-Ass with Guest Author Cathrine Swift
Fresh off of releasing her debut novel, Let it Reign, Cathrine has done her homework in the world of book marketing and it has paid off, big time! I’m excited to have Cathrine featured on the blog to share some of her pearls of wisdom she had gathered when plan her marketing strategy for herContinueContinue reading “Book Marketing like a Bad-Ass with Guest Author Cathrine Swift”
5 Ways to Use the Emotion Thesaurus
One of my favorite writing craft books/resources has got to be Angela Ackerman & Becca Puglisi’s The Emotion Thesaurus. It truly is a Writer’s Guide to Character Expression. Creating authentic and engaging emotions in your narrative can help evoke emotions in your reader, which will create a stronger connection to the story and a betterContinueContinue reading “5 Ways to Use the Emotion Thesaurus”
All You Need to Know About Critique Partners – Q&A
Recently one of my critique partners (CP) and I completed full read-throughs of each other’s novels, and so I have the joy that are CPs on the mind. I’m very fortunate to have two close critique partners that are always there to read my work––including novels, novellas, query letters, and even drafts of articles orContinueContinue reading “All You Need to Know About Critique Partners – Q&A”
Newbie to Novelist 