The Art of Critiquing

Welcome to Toolbox Saturday where you’ll find tools for various things from writing to whatever. It’s come to my attention that there are a lot of us who don’t have a clue how to honestly critique. We can tell you we like your story (or hate it), but we leave out the most important part [...]

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Is God Necessary In Christian Fiction?

In Mike Duran’s post How Do We “Glorify God” in Our Writing? I discovered I wasn’t the only person asking if you can write a Christian story without specifically mentioning God. As Mike points out, it seems most Christian writers (and I would say most Christians) think you absolutely must include God specifically in a story in order for it to [...]

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Is Butt Glue Necessary When Writing?

When you want to be a career author you can’t just write when the muse is singing. Sometimes you do need a little butt glue to keep you from wandering around doing everything but writing. That’s true… except when it isn’t. Is butt glue always necessary? Today I learned a very interesting thing about my [...]

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Sometimes You Just Need a Break

I had the loveliest, un-writerly night last night. I didn’t read a book on Craft. I didn’t read any blogs about writing. I didn’t read a book or watch a movie in order to dissect it. I didn’t even read my email. I wasn’t waiting for my Muse, nor was I adhering butt glue in [...]

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5 Links For A More Balanced Writer’s Life

This week I found myself having nightmares about conspiracies and daydreaming about a long vacation at some remote beach. That’s when I realized my life was once again out of balance. Who among us hasn’t felt like they were running uphill at full speed for days on end? It’s a common experience, especially if you’re [...]

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Beta Readers: It’s The Lukewarm Ones That Count

I love my mother. She’s one of my biggest cheerleaders (and marketers! ) and a very good proofreader. She loves just about everything I write, which makes storytelling fun because I know someone will enjoy it. She’s also pretty good at giving me honest feed back, but let’s face it… she’s my mother. Of course [...]

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Marketing Monday: Self-Promotion HSP-style

“People forget what you say, but they remember how you made them feel”–Warren Beatty Caring for others, wanting to help our fellow humans, comes rather naturally for highly sensitive people, so why shouldn’t promoting ourselves and our products be just as natural? Most likely because we’re thinking of “selling” rather than “marketing.” Sell: to persuade or induce (someone) to buy something: The salesman sold me on a more expensive model [...]

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How To Include Back Story Without Killing Your Novel

I’ve been writing most of my life, but that doesn’t mean I’ve got it down cold. If anything, I’ve learned I have a lot to learn. For example, although my first novel may spend the rest of eternity tucked safely in the darkest corner of the deepest drawer away from anything living it might otherwise [...]

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4 Links To Overcome Publishing Despair

The road to publication is filled with pain and tears… bloodshed… mayhem…. I’m being melodramatic here. Of course, that could just be that I’ve recently read several posts about how painful the publication process can be and how difficult it is to write good fiction. Here’s a small sampling: “This is literally years of work you’re seeing. [...]

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Improve Your Writing with these Editing Tips by Dustin Wax

Sorry folks, but this cold virus is really causing havoc here, so I’ve decided to do you all a favor (read: not write anything in gibberish as that seems to be how I’m speaking today ) and repost Improve Your Writing with these Editing Tips by Dustin Wax. He’s got some great advice I think [...]

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