Craft

Scrivener for Windows Review

When I found out Scrivener for Windows was in beta testing, I dropped everything to find out more about it. This writing software by Literature and Latte includes tons of cool features for writers, but until recently was only available to Mac-users. Because I’m using a trial version and the developer is still actively collecting…

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Writing Lessons from a Dream

I used to dream a lot! Vivid, storyline dreams that made complete sense…until I woke up. But lately those kind of dreams are rare. So when I had a dream about Donald Maass as my drama coach dancing with me ballroom style as I sang “Popular,” I had to laugh! Here’s why… I’m an impressionable…

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Ape House by Sara Gruen

In Ape House, Sara Gruen’s follow-up novel to Water for Elephants, Gruen again finds a unique setting: a lab where scientists work with bonobo apes on interspecies communication. The scientists, led by Isabel Duncan, teach the bonobos English and sign language so that the apes can understand English and respond with sign language. John Thigpen,…

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How Setting Influences Your Characters

Your story setting should be unique, whether an exotic island, the Deep South, an airport terminal, or a fantasy world.  Consider the following movies: Gone with the Wind, Cast Away, The Terminal, and Lord of the Rings. All of these would be less effective and less memorable without their unique setting. “A novel is a…

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What Makes a Good Critique Group?

What makes a book “good?” The experience it offers, of course, and how well it meets our expectations. Like everything else. It’s subjective, and like a book, a good critique group depends on the people in them. What you get out of it is largely dependent on what you bring to it. One essential benefit is encouragement…

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When NOT to Take Writing Advice

There’s no shortage of advice out there for aspiring and beginning authors. There’s no shortage of advice out there for aspiring and beginning authors.But knowing when NOT to take advice may be as important as knowing when to heed it. I learned this my first year of pursuing publication. At the time, I was preparing…

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Larger-Than-Real-Life Characters

This weekend while writing in a coffee shop, I was distracted by real life characters. The people around me, like this guy who greeted this girl with three kisses. His wife? Girl friend? I watched how they talked and interacted. How they were overly considerate and accommodating to each others needs. They were obviously dating,…

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Amy Inspired by Bethany Pierce

Amy gave up her mundane job to go back to school, get her MFA, and become a published writer. Except she’s not getting published, and she’s struggling with writer’s block. In another dead-end job and disillusionment, Amy worries that she won’t live the meaningful life she’s expected herself to. Cue twenty-something identity crisis. Add to…

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A Couple Books I Loved

If you saw my ever growing to-be-read pile, you might wonder how I choose what to read next. Often it comes back to which authors I’ve come to trust. The ones I know I’ll enjoy a good story that I can’t put down. A week ago I read a couple by some of my favorite…

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The Five Stages of Writing Grief

Receiving a writing rejection can feel as if a part of your dream has died. After one such rejection last summer, I realized I was going through the stages of writing grief. When I was first told by my mentor that I should scrap my 50,000 word WIP and start over, I was in SHOCK…

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