How to Tell if Your Writing Deserves Praise – A Cosmo Quiz
Not too long ago, my good friend Julie Carrick Dalton sent me this comic from Chuck Draws Things:
Category: Resources for Writers
How To Write When Your Father Is Dying
You will sit down to write on a Sunday morning. Your final manuscript is due to your Incubator class in 22 days. The phone will ring. Your heart will sink at the Maine area code. It will be your father’s…
How I Changed All My Writing Habits
It is a truth universally acknowledged that one when becomes a writer paid (minimally, but paid!) for writing, one chucks all of one’s precious notions about craft and art and motivation out the window that has needed replacing for three…
How to Work With Beta Readers and Stay Sane
“Your use of the word ‘bloke’ is a mess,” Lincoln wrote to me over Facebook chat. I met Lincoln when I was on campus at Macquarie University, just outside of Sydney. I did my junior year abroad there seemingly a…
The Novel Pitcher’s Playbook
Baseball pitchers rarely rely on a single pitch. They mix things up with fast balls, changeups, curve balls, knuckle balls, sliders, sinkers, and cutters. They consider who they are pitching to, how many strikes they have, how many outs, how…
Making Magic: 6 Steps for Creating A Magical System
Conjure, enchant, shape-shift, or summon—endless possibilities exist in the world of magic. Cast a spell, fight a dragon, wave a magic wand, but don’t forget the ruby slipper, the mermaid, and the unicorn. And then there’s time travel and scrying…