Setting does NOT simply equate to drawing maps and designing house floor-plans and planting trees all around your world. It isn't just about the weather or the town where the story takes place. It isn't just world-building from scratch. Setting certainly can be these things, but it also goes a lot deeper than that. Setting grounds you in place and time, but it also sets the mood and tone, provides a lens to understand the world through, and works in conversation with your other elements (characters, plot, and theme). Setting does A LOT more work (even if it is subtle, background work) than we often give it credit for. So, how do you get your setting to do its work – productive, necessary, hard work – without going overboard? We're going to look at the 3 mistakes writers often make when designing their setting or world-building and how to fix it.
Read moreHow to Become a Happy + Productive Writer (1 Simple Formula)
I used to be a Procrastiwriter; you know, a writer who wants to write, but has a lot of trouble actually getting words onto the page. I've had some real low writing slumps throughout my life. But then I got sick of them. I wanted to become a happy AND productive writer, and so I set out on a quest to discover just how to do it. And I emerged successful. Now, I've distilled my super secret, life-transforming process into a simple formula so you can become a happy + productive writer too.
Read moreTrue Life: I've Been Rejected
Do you fear failure? Do you hate being rejected? Has rejection derailed your writing life before? In sixth grade, it paralyzed my writing life so bad that I quit writing for nearly four years. But rejection is a normal part of the writing process, and it's never going away. In fact, it's probably going to happen to you a lot (do you know really how hard it is to get published? I've got stats that will scare you). Learn all about my traumatizing experience with rejection, how I solved it, and what you can do when (not if) it happens to you!
Read moreHow to Command the Muse to Come On Your Time (3 Steps to Discipline Your Writing Life)
Do you have trouble making real progress with your writing life? Do you have big writing dreams, but struggle to make them come true? Do you have good intentions to write, but suck at putting them into practice? Do you finally get all the stars aligned, sit down to write, and stare at the blank page uninspired? You need a healthy dose of discipline. The only way to actually get the writing done is by doing the writing; but making it a habitual practice will make it easier to write every time, you'll write more often, and you'll train your muse to show up with you. Learn the 3 steps to discipline your writing life and command the muse to show up on your time.
Read moreWhy Do You Write? Discovering the BFF of Your Writing Motivation + Perseverance
If you're ready to take writing seriously, you have to know what you're doing; and, more importantly, you have to know why you're doing it. Your why will be there to give you energy to start, it will comfort you and keep you going when you slog through the middle, and it will pull you up and dust you off when you crash. Your why is basically your BFF as a writer. Have you ever stopped to consider why you write? There's a history of writer's exploring their reasons and motifs. Learn all about it and discover your own why in this post! (+ There's a FREE pretty printable for you!)
Read moreHow to Write + Revise Your Story in 5 Draft Phases
The way I go from BIG IDEA to finished story is kind of weird. I always thought it would be this linear, very defined approach, but I don't function like that. My draft phases follow building the anatomy of a story through specific, key craft elements. My phases aren't defined by "The End" or "Draft 4", but by mindset and attention to certain story pieces. If you're curious what a "skeleton draft" is (or what a "freckle draft" is), click through to read how I write, revise, and edit my stories to completion in five distinct phases.
Read moreWhat I Learned from Studying Writing in Greece (+5 Things You Need for Magical Literary Productivity)
The most productive time of my writing life was spent on a rural island in Greece called Thassos. It was literary magic. But when I returned home, my writing suffered. I needed to find a way to recreate the amazing writing productivity in my own backyard. I thought I needed the island, but I really needed a structured freedom to write, a life inspiring enough to write about, time to let my brain be free, good books to study, and a community to guide and inspire me. These are the necessary ingredients to a productive writing life. And these are what YOU need if you want to make a productive writing life for yourself.
Read moreHow to Find Your Story's Heart: 5 AWESOME Revision Techniques
You may use a revising checklist or an editing checklist to bring your story to fruition, but sometimes that's just not enough. Perhaps this particular story DOESN'T call for setting overload, or this particular story DOES call for characterization development. Every story is unique in its needs. The following five techniques will get you working with your story in the way revision was intended to be: a literal re-vision-ing of what your story is intended to be. They will get you thinking about your story in different ways. They'll ask you to pay attention to the specific, unique elements that THIS particular story needs. They'll ask you to remember the heart of the story, and bring that to the surface in a meaningful way. This isn't focusing on word choice, but intention. Ready to get revising?
Read moreEverything You'd Ever Need to Write a Novel: The ULTIMATE Novel Packing List
Perhaps you're ready to attack Camp NaNoWriMo next month or classic NaNoWriMo in November. Perhaps you're just embarking on your own personal writing quest on your own schedule. The truth is, you want to write a novel, and that's awesome! You're about to do an amazing thing. It's going to be difficult. It's going to be a challenge. But it's going to be well worth it. Before you get started with your novel, you have to be prepared. There's a lot of time, effort, and energy that go into writing a novel, so you want to make sure you're well-equipped for whatever's going to happen. This is the ultimate packing list of everything you'll need to write your novel.
Read moreWhat to Do When You're in a Funky Creative Rut with Writing
Sometimes your writing life is not productive. Sometimes you get yourself into a funky creative rut, a state of "un", where things are just not going your way. It's easy to get frustrated and depressed when this happens, and it sucks. But you're not alone. These low-points are normal in life, and they're only temporary. Learn how to deal with your creative rut appropriately and get out of it so you can get back to accomplishing your wildest writing dreams.
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