Writing Category
Writing–Developing Characters–Jackson
Posted on April 8, 2015 2 Comments
In developing characters for my novel, Meghan’s Choice, I tried to populate my fictional town of New Boston, Kansas, with as many different kinds of characters as possible to challenge Meghan Gallagher’s sensibilities. I wanted an ex-slave who would still sort of talk like a Negro from the south, but I wanted him to be intelligent […]
King On Writing
Posted on April 1, 2015 2 Comments
Okay. A friend who knows I’m a writer, lent me Stephen King’s book On Writing. I hadn’t asked for it. I wasn’t sure I wanted to read it. I did though. And I got a few pointers out of it. I’ll share the best two in this post.
Writing Ideas – Part I
Posted on March 25, 2015 2 Comments
Earlier, I posted about what fuels your ideas, and I used “Early Edition” as one of mine. Someday I’d like to get into my head and pull out all of my favorite plot twists, events, characters, settings, etc. – wishing I could put them all together.
An Update to My Writing Journey
Posted on March 19, 2015 1 Comment
I haven’t written much lately about my writing journey, which is originally why I started this blog, so I thought I’d share an update. Even when things appear to go slowly, sometimes progress isn’t seen until a step back is taken. Today, I’m stepping back and taking an inventory of what I’m involved in that […]
Plots That Dance – Part I
Posted on March 12, 2015 Leave a Comment
I spotlighted this book, The Dance of Character & Plot, a few months ago in an interview with my Craftsman mentor, DiAnn Mills. You can check out that interview here. Now, I’m going to shine that spotlight on one part of the book, Chapter Seven. Here’s her opening statement: “We all want our novels to […]
Writer’s Resource – The Sell Your Novel Tool Kit
Posted on March 5, 2015 Leave a Comment
By Elizabeth Lyon The publishing world has changed in the last number of years. This book was originally published in 1997, but came out as a paperback in 2002. Publishing has changed a lot in twelve years, but there is still a lot to be gleaned from this book. The subtitle is “Everything you need […]
Self-Editing for Fiction Writers – Dialogue
Posted on February 26, 2015 Leave a Comment
I used this resource a while back to talk about Point of View. Because point-of-view is something a lot of writers struggle with. I know I did. But there’s so much more to this book. I’m going to focus on dialogue, because that’s another area where beginning writers turn potential editors and agents off. Now, […]
Writing Resource – The Scene Book
Posted on February 19, 2015 1 Comment
One of my former Christian Writer’s Guild mentors is named Sandra, but she is the not same Sandra Scofield who wrote The Scene Book, A Primer for the Fiction Writer. My Sandra recommended it to me to help me craft scenes better. I haven’t read all of it yet, but I will be. The book […]
What You Liked – Happy Anniversary Today!
Posted on February 17, 2015 Leave a Comment
I’m looking back this week. This blog celebrates it’s one-year anniversary today. It seems unbelievable to me. I appreciate every one of you who read and follow this on a regular basis. On the anniversary tomorrow, I’ll spell out details of some giveaways I’ve got planned. I’ve never done that before, but there will be […]
Writing Resource – Formatting & Submitting Your Manuscript
Posted on February 12, 2015 2 Comments
From the Back Cover: “Prepare and Present Your Work Like a Pro! Formatting & Submitting Your Manuscript, 3rd Edition, ( by Chuck Sambuchino and the Editors of Writer’s Digest Books ) gives you all the information you need to craft a winning submission. Fully updated, this comprehensive resource now features more than 100 sample letters […]
Donna L.H. Smith 