Writing Meaningful Travel Stories

Whether you’ve traveled to Key West or the Far East, your travels matter. Your travel stories can matter to readers near and far, too. Lots of folks want to experience travel-free travel — to travel vicariously with someone who can communicate the experience in an ordered and interesting way. Would you like to give those readers that chance? Traveler or tourist? “The traveler sees what he sees. The tourist sees what he has come to see.” ― G.K. Chesterton Travel … Read More »

How Pushing Paper Can Help You Plot (And More!)

posted in: Writing Craft 7

These days there are so many wonderful digital tools, websites, software options and widgets to assist writers with their work. Whether you’re using good old Microsoft Word or the slightly newer more fiction-friendly Scrivener, you probably have your own process and your own spin on how you like to draft your writing. Some writers like to mix and match their digital and their analog options, as well. I like to bounce around between Google Docs and Scrivener myself, depending on … Read More »

Writing Through Writer’s Block

posted in: Writing Life 1

Writer’s block sucks. There’s nothing worse than longing to put words to paper, motivation oozing from every pore of your body, but there’s no inspiration to launch those words into fruition. The frustration is palpable, bitter on the tongue. It’s hard enough to find those fleeting moments of euphoric drive, but to lose those to writer’s block is not only piercing defeat, but a mournful tragedy. What if I told you I had a sure-fire way to get over writer’s … Read More »

Your Pen Name and the Law

The literal translation of “nom de plume” is “the name of the pen,” which we more commonly refer to as a “pen name” or “pseudonym.” Why write under a pen name? Perhaps your shortsighted human resources director, in Googling™ your name, would not favor the advancement of your career upon realizing that your gothic vampire horror fiction is selling successfully on Amazon. Perhaps your name is “William Gates” and you don’t want your work to be confused with the nonfiction … Read More »

Digging Deeper: Unearthing the Bones of Good Writing

posted in: Writing Craft 11

Writers are readers. But are you the right kind of reader—a paleontological reader? As writers who want to hone our craft we need to read beyond simple enjoyment or displeasure. Sure, there are times when we need to escape — like anyone else — and simply wallow in the pleasures of a book, or of some poetry. And certainly, there have been many among us who have thrown a book down wondering how in the world did this get published! … Read More »

25 Summer Writing Prompts

It’s gotten hot, the grass is fried…and so is your brain. Well good news! We have a batch of writing prompts as big as a five-scoop sundae. So do a few stretches, get that pencil ready, and take a gander at 25 summer writing prompts. Writing Prompts Based on Images Check out the following picture bank and see if any of these spark something for you.   Writing Prompts Based on Senses Sensory details make things vivid for the reader. … Read More »

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