SMART Goals

Jul 21, 2019 | Blog, Method, WIP, Writing

If you’ve been around the block a few times, as I have, you’ve probably heard of SMART goals. If you haven’t, I’m here to tell you about them today because they are an integral part of getting that writing—or really anything!—done. It might not hurt to read through a...

Tropes and Trends

Apr 7, 2019 | Blog, Method, WIP, Writing

How closely should we follow trends? And where do you start when you’re plotting a new book? With my Ladies’ Wagering Whist Society Series, I started the entire series by working with character tropes. I picked popular Regency romance tropes and made them the ladies...

Drafts of a novel

Mar 31, 2019 | Blog, Method, WIP, Writing

You’ve probably all heard of Nora Roberts’ first POS draft that she writes. She’s a “pantser” – she gets an idea for a book, allows it to gestate in her brain for a little while, thinking of who the characters might be and what they want and then she sits down at her...

The Importance of Names

Mar 24, 2019 | Blog, WIP, Writing, Writing Craft

I’m currently plotting my next trilogy in my Ladies’ Wagering Whist Society series. The first thing I do is work on my characters, because it is from characters that the plot grows. As I’m doing this, I’m getting input and help from my daughter, who has some very...

Get to that Goal

Nov 4, 2018 | Blog, Method, WIP, Writing, Writing Craft

We all know the importance of Goal, Motivation, and Conflict in our characters and their story, but as I’m grappling with the end of the book I’m writing, it’s becoming increasingly important for me to keep this in mind, so I thought I’d share my thoughts on the topic...

Index Cards? Really?

Sep 30, 2018 | Blog, Method, WIP, Writing

Yup, really! I’ve got a new answer to the age-old question of how to organize scenes. It seems like every couple of books I completely change the way I organize and map out the scenes in my book. Why? I have absolutely no idea. Sometimes one way works for a book,...