Reading time: About 2 minutes S.M Stevens tries NEVER to make writing a chore. “Otherwise, what’s the point of this labor of love?” she asks. S.M. Stevens has written the friendship/social justice novel Beautiful and Terrible Things, which won seven awards including Best Literary Book of 2024 from Indies Today; Horseshoes and Hand Grenades, and […]
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Reading time: About 3 minutes If strange words and counter-intuitive ideas appeal to you, read on to learn how jootsing can improve your writing… The word looks ridiculous on the page: Jootsing. And it sounds worse out loud. Try saying, “I jootsed today” with a straight face. Still, the idea behind it is incredibly useful.
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Reading time: Less than 2 minutes This is my weekly installment of “writing about writing,” in which I scan the world to find websites, books and articles to help other writers. Today I discuss a blog post advocating using fiction techniques in memoir… I recently stumbled across a terrific blog post on Joanna Penn’s site
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Reading time: About 2 minutes I like to share interesting pieces of figurative language I encounter in my reading. I write today about metaphors from Canadian writer Patricia Finn…. Patricia Finn is a North Vancouver–based writer, ghostwriter, editor, and consultant whose career has spanned decades. Educated in both Canada and New Zealand, she completed post-graduate
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Reading time: About 2 minutes Laura Pulaski says it’s not that difficult to begin writing a book. Just open your computer and type “Chapter 1,” then take it from there…. Laura Pulaski, who writes under the name LeeAnne James, was born and raised in Central New York, but after retirement, moved with her family to Gettysburg, Pennsylvania.
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Reading time: About 3 minutes Are you part of the select group of people actually achieving writing goals? Or did you give up on them back in February? Every January, writers everywhere make the same promises. Finish the novel. Submit to 12 literary magazines. Build a newsletter audience. Write every single day without fail. Now
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Reading time: Less than 1 minute This is my weekly installment of “writing about writing,” in which I scan the world to find websites, books and articles to help other writers. Today I discuss a blog post about the editing style of Jane Austen…. When I edit on paper, I use a wickedly sharp red
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Reading time: About 1 minute I like to share interesting pieces of figurative language I encounter in my reading. I write today about a series of similes and metaphors from Olaf Olafsson…. I often enjoy the clear, crisp, unadorned style of Scandinavian writers. I was struck by that feeling again recently when I read a
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Reading time: About 2 minutes Writer Paul Jantzen believes that anyone who actually enjoys the editing process might have some psychological problems. For Paul, writing is the step that gives him the most joy. Paul Jantzen grew up surrounded by baseball diamonds, tree forts, and the kind of small-town adventures that shape a lifetime of
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Reading time: About 3 minutes It sounds counterintuitive, but working less as a writer will actually help make you more productive… Here’s a confession that’s going to sound lazy: By noon, I’m often done with the serious work of the day. Why: I do most of my best writing before 10 a.m. I’m not bragging.
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