5 Things to Do When You’ve Written a Stinker

If you are a regular reader of my blog you know that writing is indeed hard work.  It takes a lot of time and effort and like anything that is done well it is sometimes difficult to make it work.  I think of that story about Thomas Edison who failed over 100 times to make

Virtual Book Tour: An Interview With Author Jaimie Hope

Recently I agreed to participate in virtual book tours, both promoting indie authors and hopefully using the network to get the word out about my own projects.  I recently was introduced to Jaimie Hope, an author with a very unique and interesting personal story as well as a knack for writing children’s books that reach

How a Book is Born: A Humorous Yet Truthful Look at Publishing

Yesterday I brought up the point that it is strange how James Patterson completes the herculean task of churning out 12 best sellers in a year.  Today I found an info graphic by Mariah Bear that is a humorous satire of what it takes to get published these days, but it is also laden with

Ugly Errors: 5 Reasons Why Writers Must Learn to Revise

As Taylor Mali illustrates so eloquently in the above video, writers should stop relying on spell check to edit their writing for them and start learning how to revise. One of the best books on the market for self-editing is by Renni Browne and Dave King: Self-Editing for Fiction Writers: How to Edit Yourself Into

5 Problems Facing Novelists and How to Overcome Them

I have always wanted to be a novelist.  Of course this requires that I spend countless hours in front of a computer screen working, many more hours promoting myself, building my platform and generally getting my name out there. Over the years, I have found that there are several “hobgoblins” that will grab a novelist’s

Lazy Writing and How to Avoid It

I’ve been teaching writing for almost 14 years and have been writing fiction for 25.  It has been my experience that anyone can write well if given the proper tools and education.  Usually someone tip-toes into my classroom with their short story or poem or random work of fiction under their arm.  They hold it

Imagery: Beyond “Show Don’t Tell”

I am sure that if you have attended any creative writing courses at all , you have heard the old addage “Show, don’t tell.”  This is referring to the idea that amateur writers often tell us about the action in their narrative rather than “showing” events through imagery, figurative language and good description.  Over the

Scrivener Addict: Why I Won’t Go Back To Word for Novel Writing

I really can’t remember why or how I found out about Scrivener, or as I like to call it “The Novelist’s Friend”.  I downloaded it back in December of 2011 and use it every day.  Many of my friends who really know me look at me with raised eyebrows and crooked mouths when I mention

Using Scrivener’s Help Function

                Scrivener is probably one of the best word processors out there for novelists.  I use it every day and find it more easy to use than Word or any of the others.  One of the reasons this is true for me is found in the overly helpful help

How To Write A Persuasive Essay: 10 Steps To Student Success

I have taught AP Comp classes for over 10 years.  In that time, I have picked up some handy tips to teaching students how to write a solid, well constructed and well written essay. Here are the steps: 1. Stick to the Prompt – The prompt may be on an essay test or it may