by Shannon Dittemore | Apr 12, 2019 | Author Life, Creativity, Mailbag, Productivity
Today’s question comes from Rachel and it’s a good one. You can definitely feel her angst and, boy, can I relate. I just feel so stuck. Why is writing so stupidly hard now?I’ve never written an editable book before, so I keep second guessing myself....
by Jill Williamson | Apr 10, 2019 | Creativity, Getting Published, Goals, Learning from Other Authors, Self-Publishing, Writing As A Business
Last week I launched a Kickstarter campaign to celebrate the ten-year anniversary of my first book (By Darkness Hid) being published. I can’t believe it’s been ten years already! But then I took this picture and saw that, yes, it really has been ten years....
by Stephanie Morrill | Apr 8, 2019 | Author Life, Writing Life
There are pieces of the writing life that get easier the longer you’ve been on your journey. Writing a synopsis, for example, used to be a multiple-day process with lots of grumbling. Now I’ve learned what makes it enjoyable for me (doing it before the...
by Shannon Dittemore | Apr 5, 2019 | Writing Exercise
Good morning, friends! I have a fun writing exercise for you today. It’s one I do with my kids all the time, but I don’t think we’ve ever done one like this before here at Go Teen Writers. Which, honestly, is a bit of a tragedy because it’s...
by Jill Williamson | Apr 3, 2019 | Brainstorming, Characters
It’s spring break here, so I’m off today to the beach with my family. I’ve been working terribly hard on a Tenth Anniversary of By Darkness Hid surprise. Alas, I didn’t get it done before the little beach trip, so it will launch (hopefully)...
by Stephanie Morrill | Apr 1, 2019 | Author Life, Guest Posts, Writing Life
Taylor Bennett is a dandelion-wishing, world-traveling lover of books, words, and stories. Based in the PNW, she dreams of seeing the world and writing stories set in unique locations. Although she dreams of traveling to many different places, her favorite destination...
by Shannon Dittemore | Mar 29, 2019 | Author Life, Reading, Writing, Writing Life
Do you ever think about how you got to where you are right now? I’m an introspective person, so I chew on stuff like this a lot. Lately, I’ve been thinking about my time in publishing and how it was I decided to pursue storytelling as a career. I’ve...
by Jill Williamson | Mar 27, 2019 | Author Life, Encouragement, First Drafts, Goals, Writing Life
The weeks following my last report have been down, word-count wise. I’ve been working more hours than I thought I would, and I just haven’t been able to reach my 7500 words per week goal. I’ve been close, though, in the 6000s each time. I’m...
by Stephanie Morrill | Mar 25, 2019 | Mailbag, Plot
Today’s fantastic question comes from Fiona, who says: I’ve gotten some feedback that some events in my novel are too big of a coincidence and that the plot feels unnaturally lucky or unlucky to have happened to a character. That made me wonder: what makes...
by Shannon Dittemore | Mar 22, 2019 | Writing
You guys are catching me in a funny place. I just finished an edit on my latest manuscript and I’m feeling all sorts of strange about telling folks how to write books. Writing books is hard. As I went through my manuscript, I found many, many places where I broke the...
