The Hard Truth About Being a Professional Writer

I happened to see this meme (above) on Facebook and I lost it laughing. This is such a great metaphor for what it is like to be a writer. In the beginning I was a rose, then I learned to become the dandelion. The dandelion might not be as pretty, but it is prolific and it …

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Six Ways To Self-Edit & Polish Your Prose

Whether you are new to writing or an old pro, brushing up on the basics is always helpful. Because no matter how GOOD the story is? If the reader is busy stumbling over this stuff, it ruins the fictive dream and she will never GET to the story. So today we are going to cover …

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Making Fiction Come Alive! Using the Senses for Maximum Impact

Anything that talks to our senses feels a lot more real to us. It is through senses that we experience our entire world. We crave sensory experiences.

Cyber Bullies vs. Cyber Lynch Mobs—Does Anyone Win?

Humanity has been gifted with this lovely new invention…the internet. For the first time in human history, we can connect and even befriend people all over the world. We can easily research, whether that is for a novel we’re planning or to figure out why we broke out in weird spots after eating pistachios. There …

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How to Create Legendary Villains

When the reader sees the duality of the villain, she is also seeing the duality in herself. That is the part that can be deeply disturbing.