By Shelley Widhalm In 2020, I was pretty much done with writing, overwhelmed with trying to keep my freelance writing and editing business afloat and supplementing it with a gig grocery store job. Despite my sort of giving up, I still went to conferences and belonged to writing groups like Northern Colorado Writers (see https://northerncoloradowriters.com).Continue reading “Writing My Way Through 2022”
Tag Archives: Shelley Widhalm
What gets more attention? Description or action?
By Shelley Widhalm If you want to keep readers turning pages, the key is balancing description with action. Readers get bored with too much description, and they get overwhelmed with all action and no breaks. Action in a novel or short story keeps the pace moving at a rapid clip, while description can slow theContinue reading “What gets more attention? Description or action?”
Spur Your Writing
By Shelley Widhalm As a freelance writer and former journalist, I’ve learned to live by deadlines. And as an anti-procrastinator, I’ve made it my habit to turn in assignments before the due date because facing a ticking clock stresses me out. But when it comes to writing novels and not having a publisher demanding aContinue reading “Spur Your Writing”
NaNoWriMo: The Speed Writing Challenge
By Shelley Widhalm Every fall, do you start thinking about NaNoWriMo’s built-in goal and deadline as a Yea or a Nay? Like me, maybe you’re a veteran author who’s done it before, or possibly committing to writing 50,000 words during November is new to you. Divided up to a daily count, it is 1,667 words.Continue reading “NaNoWriMo: The Speed Writing Challenge”
Without Pacing What’s The Point
By Shelley Widhalm I’m reading a book with two intriguing main characters and compelling relationships gone wrong. Still, the repetitive dialog and plot points make it boring. The issue is with the pacing, intermittent external and internal tension, and lack of cliffhangers at the end of chapters. I’m determined to finish the book, though, sinceContinue reading “Without Pacing What’s The Point”
Battle of The Bards: Poetry Is A Challenge
By Shelley Widhalm Writing a poem a day is like marriage—it’s a commitment that takes loyalty, honesty, and authenticity. Saying “I will,” I undertook the Poem a Day Challenge in September 2017 and have written nearly 1,600 poems since. I missed a few days in winter 2020 during surgery recovery and at the end ofContinue reading “Battle of The Bards: Poetry Is A Challenge”
Let’s Resolve to Be Resolute.
It’s that time of year that resolutions get tossed about and added to our long list of things.
Believable Character Development
Characters need development like chocolate formed into a bunny and wrapped in foil to give it color and identity.
Poetry Primer: Crafting And Editing
By Shelley Widhalm When I told one of my writer friends I was editing a poetry collection I assembled, he said, “I didn’t know you could edit poetry.” You sure can, but first, to get something to edit, let’s think of poem creation, capturing an experience, thought, or moment in tempo, color, sound, and movement.
Inciting Incidents versus Triggering Incidents (And A Lot of In Between)
By Shelley Widhalm A novel can be structured in three or more acts or 15 beats (see Blake Snyder’s Save the Cat!® – The Language of Storytelling). Or in some other forms, whether you story map or wing it. What I find confusing is the difference between inciting incidents and triggering incidents.
The Writing Bug 