Category: How To and Tips
A Second Book about a Second Sister by a Second Daughter
By Catherine Matthews In preparation for writing my second novel, Roadside Sisters, I brushed up on the common characteristics of siblings by birth order. While certainly not preordained or immutable, there is some validity to the theories and logical reasons they play out in the way they do. I, like the character Molly, am a […]
The Conjuring Trick
By Ginny Fite A few weeks ago, a long-time writing critique partner announced there was “a lot of telling” in my latest manuscript. Oh, dagger to my heart. He sweetened his assessment by saying, “There’s a lot of showing, but there’s too much telling.” If you’re new to writing fiction, the distinction between telling and […]
The Power of Healing Fiction: How Writing Helped Me Reclaim Myself
By Megan Walrod What if fiction could be a form of healing—not just for the reader, but for the writer too? Over a decade ago, I woke up with a dream image of a woman watering a lemon tree, along with a first line of text. I felt compelled to sit down and start typing. […]
What I Learned About Grief and Grieving by Writing The Married Widow and Dear Bobby
Diane Papalia Zappa Prior to my 75 year old husband Bob Zappa’s passing away in 2018, I hadn’t thought much about grieving. And then suddenly his unexpected traumatic death from hereditary Amyloidosis plunged me deeply into it. In writing my two memoirs, The Married Widow: My Journey with Bob Zappa and Dear Bobby: My Grief […]
Author A. M. Jaxon’s Writing Journey: Tips, Slips and Hits
Hello, wonderful women writers! I’m A.M. Jaxon, a newcomer to romantic suspense books. By newcomer, I frame that by saying it’s been eleven years of toiling away. I’ve been asked to write a little about my journey. I’m not sure I qualify to give anyone ‘sage’ advice about writing, but with my seventh book being […]
How Summers Away Helped Me Find My Creativity
During the summer of the pandemic, many of us city-dwellers were trying to flee the cramped towers of downtown for the sprawling landscapes of the countryside, and I was no exception. Stepping into my partner’s family’s rustic cottage on the North Bruce Peninsula felt like an exhale of relief. That summer was a turning point […]
Why Women Writers Should “Work It”
It stands to reason that great fiction would take place in the great arenas of the human experience: the places where we test our talents, boundaries, and mettle. This could be the battlefield, the sports field, outer space, the kitchen table, or the classroom, among zillions of other places. But puzzlingly, in contemporary fiction, one […]
Irma Venter, author of Red Tide, on Women Characters in Crime Novels
Irma Venter, author of Red Tide, on Women Characters in Crime Novels What does a strong female character in a crime novel look like? This question has intrigued me since I was a teenager scouring the library for my next read. Often the female characters were one of two things – the (often passing) love […]
Keeping Promises to Ourselves and Getting to the Finish Line—- and Beyond
By Lynne Shaner I started writing what would become my debut novel more than ten years ago. The first draft was messy and awful and all over the place, in the way firsts drafts are (mine, anyway). I printed it out it and boxed it up and lugged it halfway across the country. I tucked […]
Does Grief Transform What you Write?
By Sweta Vikram We were at a dinner gathering the other night when a few people asked, “When are you writing your next novel?” I didn’t have an answer. These people knew that I started work on a new novel in summer of 2020. They had shown interest in the storyline. They wanted to know […]
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