Category: How To and Tips
Sleep: The Secret Ingredient that Creativity Needs
Sleep: The Secret Ingredient that Creativity Needs I recently signed a book contract for my 15th book tentatively titled The Loss That Binds Us. It’s a self-help book filled with real, relatable, and holistic tips to navigate grief. It’s a book that my father wanted me to write because he believed we need to normalize grief. It’s […]
Heroines with Unexpected Careers
Heroines with Unexpected Careers by Nan Reinhardt I love reading books where the heroine’s career is unexpected, which is why I had so much fun writing about boat mechanic Joanna Weaver in Meet Me in River’s Edge. I think as women writers (and readers), we want our heroines to have fabulous careers that crash through the […]
Jocks Are Inspiring Too by Sarahlyn Bruck
Pop culture enjoys pitting the jocks against the dorks, the popular kids vs. the outcasts. As book lovers, we know which set we’re supposed to identify with–the ones who spend hours in libraries, who kill time browsing bookstores, who fritter away a sunny afternoon indoors on the couch reading a book. We’re the introverts, the […]
Where do Stories come from?
Where do stories come from? – Tracy Fells on the inspiration behind The Naming of Moths and other short stories I love coffee and cake, and seek out great cafés to enjoy them together. One café visit triggered the writing of my most successful short story ‘The Naming of Moths’, which won the 2017 Commonwealth […]
On Co-Authorship and Expanding the Conversation
On Co-Authorship and Expanding the Conversation By Annika Paradise, co-author of WONDER YEAR: A GUIDE TO LONG-TERM FAMILY TRAVEL AND WORLDSCHOOLING The heart of our new book, Wonder Year: A Guide to Long-term Family Travel and Worldschooling, is collaborative conversation. Part inspiration and part how-to, our book demystifies the seemingly outrageous prospect of embarking on […]
The Good The Bad and the Unsympathetic Character
The Good The Bad and the Unsympathetic Character Laura Elliot casts a wry, humorous eye over the creation of fictitious protagonists who are determined to be ‘bad.’ My local railway station is within walking distance from my home. Trains are my usual means of travel so I guess it’s not surprising that when it comes […]
On Making Writing a Process By Rachel Grosvenor
When people hear that I’m a writer, many ask what my process is. It’s a good question and a fair one, and is debated back and forth in writing groups, online, and wherever creatives dwell. Books have been written on it. Thousands of words have been flung into the air, debating the best process for […]
Of Sweet Spots and Near Misses
Of Sweet Spots and Near Misses From the time I started reading chapter books in elementary school, I have loved stories that go on for days. I knew I wanted to write them. The trouble was, I couldn’t think of any stories that were long enough to fill a book. I could think of intriguing […]
Writing Tough Stuff: Five Tips to Make it Easier
Writing Tough Stuff: Five Tips to Make it Easier Last summer and winter I tried (and tried) to write a short memoir essay about a short stint of living and working in a London pub during the late 1980s. The opening scene of the essay, in which, on my very first night there, I wake […]
Your Reader Needs You to Dive Deep By Melanie Dickerson
Your Reader Needs You to Dive Deep By Melanie Dickerson As a writer, don’t save anything, don’t pull any punches, and don’t protect yourself or hold back your emotions. If you want your reader to remember your book, to fall in love with your story and your characters, you must leave everything on the page. […]
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