Category: Writing

Writing advice is never absolute. It often changes with circumstances and sometimes, like now, it’s a straight up contradiction. Of course you’re going to hide information. If the reader already knows what will happen, there’s no incentive to keep reading. Even when the reader expects the ending, like with...

What does this image have to do with writing? It’s a good visualization of a basic story structure. Let’s break it down. The colored balls are stationary representing the status quo. This is what the day to day life is for your main character at the beginning of the...

The most commonly accepted writing advice is reading more will help you become a better writer. Most writers are naturally drawn to reading. For a lot of us, it’s why we want to be writers. Just like people in the film industry like to watch movies, we love to...

I often ask myself if I should give up writing. It mostly happens in moments of feeling down, which strike at random. A wound opens up, and I ask myself, am I good enough to keep going? Is it all just a waste of time? This feeling also rears...

I first heard about National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) 13 years ago when I came across Chris Baty’s book “No Plot, No Problem.” I wasn’t a plotter at the time and the idea of sitting down and letting the novel flow out of me was intriguing. And the idea...

We’ve talked about When to Give Feedback, How to Give Feedback, now let’s talk about how to receive it. Out of all three, this is the hardest, but a necessity on the path to improvement. We learn so much from feedback. But it’s not always natural at first. I’ve...

I had an epiphany while writing the blog post about imposter syndrome. The last section about believing compliments made me think about the first time imposter syndrome showed up in my life. I can’t believe this connection just popped into my head. It was a compliment that made me...

Notice in the title I used the word ‘ease’ instead of ‘overcome.’ That’s because I don’t have a crystal ball, and I haven’t overcome imposter syndrome. There are many days where I feel like I’m a big fake. As much as I’d like to get rid of it, I...

Last week I talked about When to Give Feedback, this week let’s talk about how. Most writers, at some point, will find themselves in a quid pro quo situation with feedback. Critique groups usually expect you to give feedback in order to get it. And writer friends may ask...

One of the first assignments I’d give as a writing teacher would be to have my students write a journal entry on why they want to be a writer. I encourage you to do this now. Remember back to when you first wanted to be a writer before you...