Recently I did a post on my method of doing character profiles, and it was… kind of a lot. Or it might be for some people. I’m one of those writers that prefers to go into a new story knowing a lot about my characters, even if I’m pantsing absolutely everything else. But you might… Continue reading Character design, and how to make it up as you go
Well, hey there – it’s been a while! Due to life circumstances, I just took an extended and entirely unplanned hiatus from blogging and social media. I’m ready to start dipping a toe back in, and thought a good way to do that would be a couple posts on one of my favorite, favorite parts… Continue reading How to write a character profile that actually helps
I’ve wanted to do a post for a while about my outlining method, but I keep running into a problem. Outlining is a squishy process for me, and it changes basically every time I write a book. Every set of ideas I’ve ever come up with needs something different in the planning process in order… Continue reading How to outline a novel, however you want
Happy Preptober! It’s officially Nanowrimo Prep season, and I’ve got some fun stuff planned this month as we approach what I fondly think of as the writerly holiday season. This year is going to be a fun milestone for me: I’ll be writing the first draft of the final book in a series I’ve been… Continue reading How to write a sequel (without getting overwhelmed)
It’s July, which means it’s time for Camp Nanowrimo! This month I’m attempting to add at least 30,000 words to the second draft of Nothing Is Here, which started its life as my 2022 Nanowrimo novel. The poor thing has been limping through the sad space in between drafts for many months now, and it’s… Continue reading How to prepare for revising a novel
I’ve been thinking a lot about symbolism lately, mainly because I’ve read, watched, or played a couple of things recently that did it really well. It’s gotten me thinking about how good symbolism ends up in fiction. How much of it is intentional, and how much of it is just me reading way too far… Continue reading How to write good symbolism
Happy new year! And happy New Year’s resolution season to those who celebrate. I, for one, do not. But this time of year, many in the writing world are taking this opportunity to set goals related to their craft, whether it’s to get published this year, read 50 books, get through the revision process, or… Continue reading Goal setting for people who hate goals
Research is one of my favorite parts of the writing process, but I’ll be the first to admit I tend to overdo it. Back in the pre-Google days, my mom was a reference librarian, so this is practically written into my DNA. I grew up in a house stacked with reference books, with an on-call… Continue reading Do you really need to Google that? A beginner’s guide to novel research
Oh, Wikipedia. My best friend, my darling… my downfall. How many writing sessions have I supposedly “started” by saying I need to google “just one thing” first, and twelve Wikipedia articles later, I’m still telling myself this is fruitful, writerly productivity happening even though not a single word has appeared on the page? But sadly,… Continue reading Warmup Wednesday: the Wikipedia method of worldbuilding
It’s Stupid Advice Saturday! Last week we talked about how said is, happily, not dead. This week’s victim: “Write what you know.” On the face of it, this is actually not bad advice. We all have unique experiences in this world – unique perspectives and stories of our own that need telling. We should write… Continue reading Stupid Advice Saturday: “Write what you know”
