by Jill Williamson | Sep 2, 2020 | Setting, World Building
Before I get into today’s post, I want to say that I’m SO EXCITED about the new Go Teen Writers book. We will be celebrating this new release in many ways, but the first way is with a cover reveal + cover reveal contest. HOW IT WORKS:You must have a public...
by Stephanie Morrill | Aug 31, 2020 | First Drafts, Go Teen Writers Books
Jill, Shannon, and I are so excited to tell you that we’ve been secretly working on a new Go Teen Writers book! This one is called Go Teen Writers: Write Your Novel and we wrote it with the beginning writer in mind. We know it’s hard to finish a first...
by Stephanie Morrill | Aug 28, 2020 | Getting Feedback On Your Writing, Guest Posts
Roseanna M. White is a bestselling, Christy Award nominated author who has long claimed that words are the air she breathes. When not writing fiction, she’s homeschooling her two kids, editing, designing book covers, and pretending her house will clean itself....
by Jill Williamson | Aug 26, 2020 | Antagonists, Brainstorming, Writing
We’ve talked about conflict and how the main character in your story needs to face obstacles as he sets out to achieve his objective. Most often that conflict comes in the form of an antagonist (or villain) who stands opposed to the hero of the story. That is not...
by Stephanie Morrill | Aug 24, 2020 | Beginning Writer's Guide To Finishing A Novel, Editing
As I talked about in my original post in this series about editing, I’ve found it’s more effective to start editing with big changes that need to be made (regardless of where they are in the story) rather than beginning in chapter one and working my way...
by Jill Williamson | Aug 21, 2020 | Description, Editing, First Drafts, Grow An Author, Writing
New writers often struggle to get the right words on the page and in the right place. This is a skill that simply takes practice to perfect. There are several different types of gaps that can appear in your writing. These are generally handled in the editing stage,...
by Jill Williamson | Aug 19, 2020 | Creativity, Encouragement, Guest Posts, Learning from Other Authors, Story Beginnings, Story Ideas, Writing
Do you worry that your stories might not be original enough to stand out to agents and editors? Are you afraid to retell that fairy tale you love so much, or to write about a certain setting, time period or type of character, because it feels like too many authors...
by Stephanie Morrill | Aug 17, 2020 | Beginning Writer's Guide To Finishing A Novel, Editing, Setting
When I’m doing a macro edit, the last big picture story element I work on is my setting. The setting for your story isn’t just, “modern day Kansas City,” or, “1920s Chicago,” or a fantasy world of your own creation. You might find...
by Shannon Dittemore | Aug 14, 2020 | Creativity, Reading, The Craft of Writing, Writing, Writing Life, Writing Voice
I have a thing for real life history that plays out like fiction. Lately, I’ve been reading up on Robert Hanssen and Aldrich Ames. Two men, one from the FBI and one from the CIA, who sold American secrets to the Russian and Soviet intelligence services during and...
by Jill Williamson | Aug 12, 2020 | Brainstorming, Plot, Story Structure, Writing
Last week I posted a video of how I go about writing a sequel. If you missed it, you can watch it here. Within that video, I talked about how I used the Seven-Point Story Structure popularized by Dan Wells in this video to plot my story. Lydia asked in the comments...
