Category: Writing

The craft of #writing: ratcheting chapter tension

Like a pinball, your story bounces around in your head, hitting your occipital lobe, hippocampus, and the front of your brain, lighting them all up with the act of creation. If you are a master writer, you light up the caudate nucleus, which handles skills gained over time. Creating...

Writing update and what I’ve been watching

A darkness has descended over Europe. Prayers and thoughts are with Ukraine. In my writing news, I have just finished the first draft of book 3 in the Rankers series (sequels to Deliverance at Van Demon’s Deep), that’s now off to my amazing beta reader......

Wordsmithery: ignite your #writing with best-selling-author metrics

Having worked as a ghostwriter for eight years, writing nearly every day, while working quickly, efficiently, and sparked the need for me to develop ninja wordsmithing skills. And for this I turned to machine editing tools. When I first started, I suffered some backlash from my writing friends. The...

Finish Something

So … I’m involved in a local writing group. Even in the backwoods of the high Arizona desert, we’ve managed to stitch together enough interested writers to have some peer reviews, writing exercises, and moral support. Our membership and numbers have fluctuated and we’ve had to make some adjustments...

When Your Children Turn On You

Heartbreak … it’s inevitable in this life. Muse: Unless you’re a pyschopath. Are you implying something? Muse (whistling innocently): No, not all. When I think about heartbreak, I think about disappointment, but magnified. Most folks have experienced it at some point, whether it’s the job you didn’t get, the...

The #Writer’s Craft: Word Counts, Story Length & Story Structure

(Beth Turnage Blog)  I’ve written several posts on Quora on writing and thought I’d curate some here. You can call it laziness, but really it’s a lack of time since ghostwriting is keeping me very busy. Really. 😉 How do word count limitations affect what you can fit into...

On life in 2020

Hello, Long time no see. Sorry about that. It’s been an odd year — not just for me, of course. Life has a habit of getting away from me, and crazy times encourage that habit, so I wanted to take a moment to reflect on the state of the...

A flight across the Feyrlands

The post A flight across the Feyrlands appeared first on Shaun Paul Stevens - Fantasy Author. ...

The #Writer’s Craft: #Edit using #Free SAS #Writing Reviser

(Beth Turnage) One gem in Google Apps is the free editing tool g.suite’s SAS Writing Reviser. Designed for school use, there is no reason why you can’t use it for your writing. Now, I love this thing, not only for its price point but also for the tools it...

A Trade in Betrayals–done!

Late Thursday night I wrote the final words of the first draft of A Trade in Betrayals, the third (and likely final) book in the Arcist Chronicles. It feels like the book is...really good. The beats work and build well. The connections within the novel......