by Jill Williamson | Nov 16, 2022 | Learning from Other Authors, Setting, World Building
If you missed the first post in this series, check it out here: Geography for Worldbuilding, Part One Last week you designed a map. You considered the placement of plate tectonics and added mountains to your landscape. Today we’re going to talk about how to decide...
by Shannon Dittemore | Nov 9, 2022 | Characters, Elements of Fiction, The Craft of Writing, Writing
Today we’re jumping back into our series on The Five Elements of Fiction with some thoughts on Character. Previous posts in this series include: The Five Elements of Fiction The Five Elements of Fiction: Style Today, it’s all about Character! That’s...
by Stephanie Morrill | Nov 2, 2022 | Dialogue, The Craft of Writing
Occasionally I see those word lists on Pinterest, Instagram, or even educational sites geared toward teachers or young writers: “Creative words to use instead of said.” On the list are words like exclaimed, retorted, jeered, and other jazzy words. I...
by Shannon Dittemore | Oct 26, 2022 | Author Interview, Author Life, Learning from Other Authors, Writing
We have such a treat for you today! An interview with author, Nova McBee, and a giveaway of her debut novel, Calculated! I had an opportunity to read this book before it came out, I’m happy to share my whole-hearted endorsement, and also, a bit about Nova....
by Jill Williamson | Oct 19, 2022 | Brainstorming, Creativity, Fantasy, Setting, Speculative Fiction, World Building, Writing Tools
Before I get into today’s post, I want to let you know that we’re having a sale on the Go Teen Writers books to gear up for National Novel Writing Month. Both Write Your Novel and Edit Your Novel are on sale! You can get them for $2.99 each on Kindle or...
by Shannon Dittemore | Oct 12, 2022 | Writing
Today, we’re moving into our series on The Five Elements of Fiction, with a closer look at Style. When we speak of style in storytelling, we’re not talking about an author’s wardrobe (thank goodness!). We’re talking about how an author tells a story....
by Stephanie Morrill | Oct 5, 2022 | 100-for-100
This year, we had an amazing 72 writers finish the 100-for-100 writing challenge! WOW. I lost track of how many emails i received saying things like, “I had been in a writing slump and this challenge broke me out of it.” Or, “I had no idea I was...
by Jill Williamson | Sep 28, 2022 | Learning from Other Authors, Marketing, Writing As A Business
Today I am continuing the Goodreads discussion I began last week. You can read last week’s post here. In short, Goodreads is a place where readers go to talk about books, learn about new books, organize their reading lists, and more. It’s a place authors...
by Jill Williamson | Sep 21, 2022 | Writing
Jill here. I’ll be posting this week and next, so I decided to turn the Goodreads workshop I taught this past summer at Realm Makers into a blog post. I am far from an expert on Goodreads, but I have been using the site since before I was first published in...
by Shannon Dittemore | Sep 14, 2022 | Elements of Fiction, Story Structure, The Craft of Writing, Writing, Writing Exercise
Happy Wednesday, writers! I’m a little bogged down out here in California. There’s a fire raging about a half hour from where we live, and we’ve got a house full of evacuees. They’re lovely, and I’m so glad we have space to share, but it...
