By Eleanor Shelton There was a French female rugby player who was a shoo-in for the French national rugby team. The Olympics were on the horizon. She even got the five rings tattooed on her forearm. One day she was jogging through the woods, a place she regularly ran, when a tree randomly fell onContinue reading “It Can (And Should) Happen.”
Category Archives: Advice
Abandoned
By Brian Kaufman Having finished two novels and grown tired of rejections, I began to write a third novel. I had a clever idea and a marvelous, operatic ending in mind. 35.000 words in, I realized I’d dead-ended. I stuck my stack of legal pads in a box (this was before home computers walked theContinue reading “Abandoned”
Whova?! What Fresh Hell Is This?
By JC Lynne and Bonnie McKnight From February 2020 on our reality has shifted from one hot mess to another. Oh hell, who are we kidding? Dare we trace our slippery slope a bit further back? We all have experienced some struggle. Some more than others, we respect that everyone’s experiences are different.
Flawlessness Is Flawed
By David E. Sharp I don’t know why anyone would trust me with hiring practices. Nevertheless, I have been on both sides of the job interview process. When I conducted interviews for positions in a Texas library, I had a canned set of questions I was supposed to ask. Among them was the single-most hatedContinue reading “Flawlessness Is Flawed”
Being in A Crowded Bar May Not Be The Best Plan
By Ronda Simmons St. Patrick’s Day Reading Suggestions Because Being in a Crowded Bar Might Not be a Good Idea During a Pandemic The pandemic is forcing another stay-at-home celebration, but that doesn’t mean we can’t celebrate St. Patrick’s Day in style. Besides cooking our favorite Irish foods, drinking Irish beer, and watching Irish programming,Continue reading “Being in A Crowded Bar May Not Be The Best Plan”
Thoughts on Audience: Deuxième Partie
In my blog post last month, I wrote that audience is a necessary, though problematic, consideration for the author. A quick recap—written communication changes, depending on the audience. The way you say something will depend on who’s reading. In some cases (genre fiction), audience expectations will actually shape the finished piece, from pacing to plotContinue reading “Thoughts on Audience: Deuxième Partie”
Put Your Story on A Stage
By Eleanor Shelton As a writer, the best gift I ever received was to hear my scene being brought to life by professional actors. I was invited to participate in a playwriting class at a regional theater. I had never written a play, nor did I think I was about to. But the course neededContinue reading “Put Your Story on A Stage”
How Many Drafts Does It Take to Get to The Center of A Manuscript?
My novel launches in July of this year. It has been a long process full of rewrites, edits, revisions, additions, subtractions, frustrations, and inspirations. Looking back on this beast’s earliest iterations, I wonder how many versions did it go through to get to here.
On Reading
By Ronda Simmons I was called bookworm when I was a kid. It wasn’t a compliment.
Who Are We Writing For?
An audience is the target of your communication. Written communication is an odd duck because the transmission is not immediate. When you speak to someone in person, the communication is rooted at that particular moment. The written word typically exists without a direct interface. This is important because for a connection to be made, theContinue reading “Who Are We Writing For?”
The Writing Bug 