Friday Speak Out!: Can We Take the Criticism?

by Ashley E. Sweeney It’s that big red X in the middle of the page or that “NO!” that screams from the blue bubble on Track Changes that makes us cringe. She really doesn’t like it, we say to ourselves. Self-doubt creeps in, and with it, the door opens to a flood of self-criticism. Some days, those days when we’re really discouraged with our writing, we ask ourselves: Is it all worth it? The answer...

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3 comments Ashley E. Sweeney, criticism, Friday Speak Out, listening to critique

It Started With a Link

I was writing a piece about an author and looking for information; oddly, I couldn’t find an author website so I was zipping around when I remembered one of my favorite resources. And there it was: the author website! So I clicked on it. It was not the author. It could have been an author, I suppose. The woman was lovely, what I saw of her, but the suggestion that I might want to contact her for...

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9 comments author branding, author website, Cathy C. Hall, email signature, website design

Introverts and the Writing Life

Hi, my name is Renee, and I'm an introvert. I stumbled upon a podcast recently that was looking for guests who consider themselves to be of the INFJ Meyers-Briggs personality type. It had been years since I’d done any sort of analysis on the explanations of all the different types, so I did a quick Google search on INFJ's, since I knew for sure I was an introvert. “Yep, sounds a lot like me,”...

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7 comments INFJ Myers-Briggs personality type, introvert behaviors, introverts as writers, Renee Roberson

Interview with Cassandra Chambers: Summer 2019 Flash Fiction Runner-Up

Cassandra’s Bio: As a child, Cassandra spent many hours creating and illustrating stories for her amusement. Thankfully, her writing skills have vastly improved since the age of 8, even if her illustrating skills haven’t. As the office manager of a construction company,  Cassandra’s writing has focused on business and technical writing until recently. Nothing will make you run screaming...

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2 comments Runner up, Sue Bradford Edwards, Summer 2019 Flash Fiction

Silver Spoons: One's Journey Through Addiction: Blog Tour and Giveaway

Silver Spoons: One's Journey Through Addiction takes an intimate and raw look at the current face of addiction and recovery. Talking about the current opioid epidemic, we follow a young couple while one of them goes through the recovery process. Told through letters, we get an understanding of their relationship as it struggles through his addiction and resulting recovery. From detox, rehab,...

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4 comments blog tour, drug addiction, Nicole Pyles, opioid epidemic, recovery, Sarah Dickinson, Silver Spoons

Going Back to Unfinished Stories

For the second time this past month or two, I have found half-finished stories and finished writing them. It's an odd thing to do, especially because I would normally tell you that's an impossible task for me. Most of the time, I read through a piece of unfinished writing and think to myself, "Oh if only I had the stamina to finish it..." This time I did though. I wondered why I succeeded this...

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5 comments

Genre and Author Brand

Back when I was new to the field, a seasoned children’s writer told me she didn’t try to determine what type of book her story would be. She simply wrote the story. Then she would figure out what it was. She had learned this lesson as she drafted an early reader that turned into a chapter book at the advice of her critique group. She later rewrote it as a picture book. When she sold the book,...

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5 comments brand, genre, podcast, Sue Bradford Edwards

Friday Speak Out!: Memorable First Lines

by June Trop Horns were honking at my double-parked car, my two-year-old was pulling at my skirt, and the bookstore was overheated while I was standing in the aisle desperate to find a book for next week’s train trip. How fast could I pick something? Aside from glancing at the covers, I had enough time to read only the first few lines before making my decision. Far-fetched you think? Well, maybe,...

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5 comments Friday Speak Out, June Trop, novel writing, the first line

He Said, She Said

He said, "I'm going to write now," and he disappeared into his den. She said, "I'm going to write after I do the laundry and cook dinner and scrub out the bathtub," and the upper half of her disappeared into the dryer. Yes, gender does matter. I juggle working on my novel freelance writing with my full-time teaching job and all the stuff that needs to get done around the house. I do the lawn mowing,...

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11 comments #ThingsOnlyWomenWritersHear, #WhatWoCWritersHear, Cheryl Strayed, Joanne Harris, Jodi Picoult, Sioux Roslawski

Patiently Impatient

Did you ever notice patient people are patient with others and incredibly impatient with themselves? I recently forgot to post an article I was assigned and I beat myself up for days. My goal was to journal every day and I missed the boat completely several days already this year (keep in mind it's only January 21st). I can easily forgive others when something slips through the cracks, I'm quick...

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1 comment impatience, impatient, patience, patient, writing craft, writing goals

Interview with Amber Watkins Yearwood: Summer 2019 Flash Fiction Contest Runner Up

Amber’s Bio: Amber Watkins Yearwood is a writer of grocery lists, to do lists, motivational post it notes, and now, short stories. Born in Central Illinois, she grew up in the rural Midwest before transplanting herself to San Francisco after college. She graduated from Michigan State University with a degree in psychology. After getting tired of psychoanalyzing herself and her family, she moved...

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Leave a Comment Amber Watkins Yearwood, Anne Greenawalt, contest runner up, Summer 2019 Flash Fiction

Martin Luther King Jr.’s Lesson for Writers

“I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal.’” Most of us know these words. They are from Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I have a dream” speech. But did you know that these lines almost weren’t part of the speech? King only had 5 minutes to speak and he wanted to create...

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5 comments audience, feedback, Martin Luther King Jr., rewriting, Sue Bradford Edwards

Breaking the Rules With Middle Grade Novels

Have you read Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone? J. K. Rowling breaks the middle-grade rules that all of us middle-grade authors are told are very important to follow, especially if we are debut authors. When J. K. Rowling finally had this manuscript accepted, she was a debut author, of course, and it was accepted (after many rejections) by a mainstream publisher. And of course, the rest is...

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5 comments Harry Potter, J.K. Rowling, Margo L. Dill, middle grade, middle grade novel, writing a middle grade novel

How Being a Writer Has Ruined TV for Me

I’m going to start this post off by saying that I know I probably shouldn’t be watching as much TV as I do. Darn you, multiple streaming services that give me access to all my favorite procedural and true crime shows at the click of a button! But sometimes, at the end of a long day or week, you just want to veg out and take a break from all the stress and massaging your temples that writing...

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6 comments Crossing Jordan, Law and Order: SVU, Nashville, Parenthood, police procedural TV shows, pop culture, Renee Roberson, The X-Files, writing for TV

Friday Speak Out!: Choosing Names

by Saralyn Richard I’m often asked how I go about choosing names in my books, and the question always catches me by surprise. Choosing names for characters and specific places in books is a necessary task, one that, for me, happens organically as the stories unfold. I might compare the process to naming a baby, except that I have many more naming opportunities for characters than for real-live...

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9 comments '10 Ways to Get Inspired by the World Around You', character names, choosing names, Friday Speak Out, Saralyn Richard, writer tips