The power of sentence length

The power of sentence length

by | Jul 10, 2022 | Blog, Writing, Writing Craft

  Here’s a question you might not see often: How long are your sentences? Do you write really long, descriptive sentences that give your reader a lot of information so they know just where they are, what your character is doing and how they’re feeling? Or are...
The importance of knowing the basics

The importance of knowing the basics

by | Jun 26, 2022 | Blog, Writing, Writing Craft

Grammar is absolutely my least favorite thing about being a writer… and yet, I’m also an editor. Go figure that one out! Actually, if you were to ask a bunch of editors whether they enjoyed grammar I’d guess that at least half would say no. Grammar just isn’t...
Missing Chekov’s Gun

Missing Chekov’s Gun

by | May 22, 2022 | Blog, WIP, Writing, Writing Craft

Last week in the discussion on the Writers’ Block Party Podcast with Kathy Seidel on the motifs and themes used in my book A Token of Love and Pru Warren’s book Ellen and the Would-Be Gigolo, there was one important concept that we briefly discussed—Chekov’s Gun. Pru...
Deliberate Motifs

Deliberate Motifs

by | May 15, 2022 | Blog, Method, WIP, Writing, Writing Craft

On the Writers’ Block Party Podcast, we recently had Kathleen Gilles Seidel back to speak with us about repeated motifs (note: this won’t air for a few weeks, sorry!). I wrote about them on this blog a couple of months ago, but Kathy did something unique: she...
Where do you learn to write?

Where do you learn to write?

by | May 8, 2022 | Blog, Writing, Writing Craft

Way back in the dark ages, when I started writing, I learned from books. I bought books on point of view, setting, story structure—everything I could get my hands on. I have two large shelves full of books on writing craft. I also went to conferences—you remember we...
What your characters need most

What your characters need most

by | May 1, 2022 | Blog, WIP, Writing, Writing Craft

As you know, if you’ve been following this blog, I’ve been going through some personal unpleasantness recently. I was living in Kyiv just before the war started and have been moving around in uncertainty since. My apartment in Kyiv is in a spot that easily could be...