Most stories can be divided into Acts. Some swear by a 3-act structure, others by 4, but regardless of how you break down a movie or book, Act 1 is an introduction to the characters, the world, and the problem, and Act 2 is when the hero gets into the action. Act 2 is where…
Category: Writing
The world is a dumpster fire-Don’t you want happy stories?
I keep hearing that consumers want “lighter fare” and escapism in their media. The world is a mess, people say, so people crave stories that take them to a happier place. And yet, dystopian and dark fantasy continue to do really well, and many of the top television shows, movies, and books right now take…
Space
PitchWars 2017 has come to a close, NaNoWriMo wrapped up a few days ago, and many agents are closing their submissions inboxes until January. For me, this means a bit of blessed silence. I’m not sending out any more queries until January and I’m putting my NaNoWriMo draft away for a few weeks to mentally…
Throwing Darts, Blindfolded
Alternate title: What I learned from entering a bunch of mentorship contests. Hey writer people. I know it’s been another tumultuous week in the world of aspiring writers, with the most recent round of Author Mentor Match mentees announced yesterday. First, congratulations to all the writers chosen! I hope this is the beginning of an…
How does this work, exactly?
This post is for people who are writer-adjacent, the friends and family of writers (hi, friends and family!) or for people who are new to writing and still trying to figure out how this whole process works. So, for my experienced query-warriors, you may mosey on past this post if you’d like to. With the…
And it’s done
My PitchWars entry is officially submitted! Meanwhile, my full manuscript is in the hands of my favorite editor (my mom) for proofreading, which means I…. have nothing to do. I should just relax. But I’m not good at that. Next week I’ll start NaNoWriMo (yes, husband, “again.”) with my YA fantasy dragon book which has…
The Time I Got it Right… by Accident
Alternate title: When the stuff you made up is actually real. The strangest thing about writing fiction is the odd suspicion that I’m not the one coming up with the ideas. When they drop into my head and thousands of synapses light up the creative portions of my brain, it feels more like magic than…
With a Little Help from my Friends
Today’s post is an ode to internet strangers who become writer friends. Waaaay back in November 2015, I was ankle deep in my first NaNoWriMo. I’d started with no idea what to expect. I had no plot, no plan, and was simply attempting NaNo to see if I was capable of writing 50,000 words in…
More Fun Writing Resources
Some helpful sites for my fellow writers: Writing with Color http://writingwithcolor.tumblr.com/ When writing and describing characters of another race: Edit Minion http://editminion.com/ A cool site that can point out some of your writing issues! Overly long sentences? Me? You don’t say! Fictionary https://fictionary.co/ Try a free trial of Fictionary, to help shape your story arcs.(Disclaimer:…
Query Prep
The first month of PitchWars has come and gone and I’ve never felt better about my book (NO MAN’s LAND- check it out!) With a month left, I’m finishing up some line edits and working on my pitch to try and get all the intrigue and excitement into approximately 50 words. So I’m almost ready…