Last month, I shared J.K. Rowlings top tips on writing and success, and it was a tough choice between her and Stephen King. Those two write such wonderful books because they understand love and fear. Have you read Stephen King’s On Writing? Seen The Shawshank Redemption (my favorite movie ever) or The Green Mile? King is [...]
I first learned about the 12 Stages of Physical Intimacy from Linda Howard, who used to give a very popular talk on the subject based on the work of Desmond Morris, Intimate Behavior: A Zoologist’s Classic Study of Human Intimacy.
On the downside, Linda has stopped giving this workshop. On the upside, she has spoken [...]
Photo from Pixabay
Summer is coming up fast, and here at Writers in the Storm we’re marking the occasion with a little “Pimp and Promote.” Of course, this always costs us some money, because we have to go out and buy lots of books. But there will be awesome “beach read” sales in next few [...]
Over the last few months, I’ve shared “Top 10” lists from several authors on the topics of writing and success. This month I chose Cheryl Strayed, author of WILD (one of my favorite books), because she has so much practical wisdom to share about life. For years before WILD gained popularity, Strayed moonlighted as [...]
The dog days or dog days of summer are the hot, sultry days of summer. They were historically the period following the heliacal rising of the star Sirius, which Greek and Roman astrology connected with heat, drought, sudden thunderstorms, lethargy, fever, mad dogs, and bad luck. They [...]
Most novels are written on the premise of “what if.” Our What-if muscles help us figure out what needs to come next in the story. Sometimes we’re lucky and we just know. More often (at least for me) we often have no clue what needs to happen next.
When I write non-fiction for awhile, [...]
I first learned about Golden Lines the summer I attended the UCI Summer Writing Institute. After a particularly dense morning lecture, we were told to extract the golden lines, the ideas that we could use to improve our writing. Every year after the RWA Conference, I like to share the Golden Lines I’ve highlighted from [...]
Though we are a very cohesive group here at Writers in the Storm, we are split down the middle in writing style. Laura and Fae write their stories in a linear fashion while Julie and I quilt ours together scene by scene. The linear approach kills my stories, but story quilting lets me focus on my [...]
From our earliest moments, most writers are avid readers. We devour books — for story, for craft, for new worlds and new ideas.
I don’t know if we become students of the written word because we love to read or if we read because we were born to love the written word. All that [...]
I first learned about the 12 Stages of Physical Intimacy from Linda Howard, who used to give a very popular talk on the subject based on the work of Desmond Morris, Intimate Behavior: A Zoologist's Classic Study of Human Intimacy.… Read the post
Summer is coming up fast, and here at Writers in the Storm we're marking the occasion with a little "Pimp and Promote." Of course, this always costs us some money, because we have to go out and buy lots of books.… Read the post
Over the last few months, I've shared "Top 10" lists from several authors on the topics of writing and success. This month I chose Cheryl Strayed, author of WILD (one of my favorite books), because she has so much practical wisdom to share about life.… Read the post
The dog days or dog days of summer are the hot, sultry days of summer.… Read the post
Most novels are written on the premise of "what if." Our What-if muscles help us figure out what needs to come next in the story. Sometimes we're lucky and we just know. More often (at least for me) we often have no clue what needs to happen next.… Read the post
I first learned about Golden Lines the summer I attended the UCI Summer Writing Institute. After a particularly dense morning lecture, we were told to extract the golden lines, the ideas that we could use to improve our writing. Every year after the RWA Conference, I like to share the Golden Lines I've highlighted from my workshop notes.… Read the post
Though we are a very cohesive group here at Writers in the Storm, we are split down the middle in writing style. Laura and Fae write their stories in a linear fashion while Julie and I quilt ours together scene by scene.… Read the post
From our earliest moments, most writers are avid readers. We devour books — for story, for craft, for new worlds and new ideas.
I don’t know if we become students of the written word because we love to read or if we read because we were born to love the written word.… Read the post
NaNoWriMo, for those of you who are unfamiliar with it, is National Novel Writing Month, where hundreds of thousands of writers gather to bang out as many words as they can in the month of November. Many writers skip it and many writers treat it as a yearly pilgrimage to Writing Mecca.… Read the post
Some people talk about writing like they are chasing butterflies along the pretty garden paths of their manuscripts. Like their words frolic with Disney characters. They speak of churning out pages like a high-end laser printer.
I am not one of those people.… Read the post
We're officially in the holiday season, a time that sends many writers into a tizzy of stress and deadlines and too many sweets. Many of my friends are past the NaNo-Mania and looking forward to their holidays, but I'm on the fence.… Read the post
