+ Author Life, Self, Writing
Starting with SELF is appropriate because it’s often the thing authors abandon first. We spend so much time trying to contort ourselves for agents, editors, and readers we completely forget that we’re a very important piece of our stories. If you haven’t read the Series Kickoff outlining the 4S’s, do that here. The self has two sections: your physical self and your higher self. … Read More 4S Author: Self
by Haley Walden
We’ve all seen it in the movies and on TV: the boilerplate villain, often faceless, sitting in a large leather chair with a fluffy (yet menacing) white cat in his lap. The image is so ingrained in our entertainment that we all instantly understood the joke the first time we saw Dr. Evil in Austin Powers. (Okay, I may be aging myself with that … Read More How to Make Your Villains Multidimensional
by Haley Walden
During the drafting stage of writing your book, it’s highly beneficial to talk through your ideas with someone familiar with your genre. This can be a bookworm friend, editor, or even a coach. As writers, we often find ourselves working in a vacuum, stuck in our own heads. Once we’ve firmly planted ourselves inside our own brains (keep your hands, arms, and legs inside, … Read More The Benefits of Talking Through Your Book While in the Drafting Stage
Over and over I see people agonizing over word choices and commas before their story is figured out. Or beta readers marking copy edit style edits when the author doesn’t yet know if their story works–or if the scene the reader is editing will even make the final cut of the novel. This is why it’s important for an author to know what to … Read More Edit Levels: What They Are and Why They Matter
I love STORY GENIUS by Lisa Cron. I recommend it for everyone who is a writer or wants to be a writer. But I especially recommend Story Genius for those authors who want to be traditionally published, receive requests for full manuscripts from agents and/or publishers, but keep getting pass letters. This book will help you gain that final layer so necessary for great books. … Read More Five Things I Learned from Story Genius
I’ve read a ton of pre-published manuscripts, and it’s been amazing and interesting, but here’s what is lacking in so many instances – creativity. Seems crazy, right? Like, someone wrote and entire novel, what more could you possibly want? Creativity. Creativity in the way a character sees the world. In the way the world sees the character. Bonus if those two things work against each … Read More Pep Talk: Unleash your Creative
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