by PeggySue Wells @PeggySueWells In the 2011 Winnie the Pooh film there is an insider snippet just for writers. It goes like this.  Pooh, Rabbit, Owl, Eeyore, Kanga, and Roo are stuck in a hole, while Piglet is outside of the hole. Rabbit to Piglet: Go look for something to get us out of here! Piglet: [Hiding under a teacup] B-b-b-b-b-b-but-okay. There m-m-m-might be something over by the pack. [Piglet leaves] Rabbit sighs: Thank goodness one of us is up there. I was worried we'd be stuck here forever. Piglet: I found something! [Returns with a flower] Here! Rabbit: What ..read more

by Edie Melson @EdieMelson We are well into the spring season of Writing Conferences. Writers everywhere are returning and/or making plans to attend writing conferences. But in the midst of your preparation, be sure not to miss out on valuable connections that can more than double what you get out of these events. Many writers have the mistaken idea that social networking is only beneficial online. Or that it only helps when you can’t be at an event. Not true. While it’s true that social networking can help you plug in when you’re not at a conference or event—many miss the benefits of ne ..read more

by Edie Melson @EdieMelson This is the Lord's doing; it is marvelous in our eyes. Psalm 118:23 Sometimes everything comes together—the colors, the lighting & the composition. You don’t have to have fancy equipment to capture a masterpiece. This was snapped in a parking lot with my iPhone 11 Pro Max. Capturing beauty isn’t about the equipment, it’s about the attitude. I see this in life as well. We (or at least I) work hard to orchestrate special times. I plan and prepare and sometimes those times turn out well. But most of the masterpiece moments in my memory aren’t built ..read more

by Tim Suddeth @TimSuddeth This week I read a novel that had all the necessary ingredients to keep me reading past my bedtime. (The ultimate compliment to a writer.) Instead, I had to force myself to finish. (Oops.) The intriguing characters were there. The setting invited you in. The plot was unique and engaging. It even had a dog. But the writing, not so much. And the problem boiled down to one thing: too much backstory. Backstory is what had happened to the characters before this story began. And backstory is important. Let’s face it, the more interesting a character’s life, the bette ..read more

by A.C. Williams @ACW_Author Genres are confusing, guys. Let’s just say it. It used to be so much easier when the categories of fiction were ones with magic and ones without magic. Or spacey stories versus scary stories. That being said, the explosion of genres really does help narrow down the types of stories that audiences want to read. Since there are so many books, it’s necessary to have more ways to categorize them. So today we’re going to talk about two genres that often get confused: Magical Realism and Contemporary Fantasy. It’s easy to mix these two up because they have many simi ..read more

by Lynn H. Blackburn @LynnHBlackburn Ideally, we would all hit send on our manuscripts and immediately retire to the locale of our choice. Perhaps a country estate, a mountain cabin, a beach house, or maybe even a yacht. In each of these environments, we would be served food and beverages, celebrated for our mammoth achievements, and encouraged to soak in the bliss of a job well done.  SCREEEECH.  That was the needle being scraped along the record of real life.  As I mentioned last month, the first seventy-two hours post-deadline are likely to occur in a haze of mental co ..read more

by Sarah Sally Hamer @SarahSallyHamer One of my favorite things to do, brainstorming is usually defined as a way to formulate new ideas from the creative side of our brain by allowing those ideas to flow.  Our brains are amazing, allowing us to coordinate thoughts and ideas based on our experiences. We get triggered, usually by an outside stimulus, and millions of brain cells start to vibrate. That stimulus finds cells which are all connected to a specific memory—an association and conglomeration of concepts about a specific thing—and causes a visceral response. In other words, the s ..read more

by Edie Melson @EdieMelson I get asked this question a lot. There is so much information out there—and most of it incorrect or at least misleading—that we’re all afraid to just ask Google for help. So today I’m going to share some of the places I got to get information and verify the information I get.  Tech Info The Current, Powered by Kim Komando. Hands down, my favorite newsletter for all things tech, come out daily from Kim Komando. I love her insight on what’s happening in the tech world for several reasons: It’s not political It is up-to-date and easy to understand It’s fun ..read more

by Edie Melson @EdieMelson Sometimes we have a difficult writing winter. That’s what I call a season of writing discouragement. When that happens, it can mimic a hard winter season.  The following is what I experienced one spring, following a difficult winter.  There were a lot of dreary days and very little sun. The ground was still boggy with sticky mud and gray has been the color du jour for so long it seemed normal.  But as I glanced out the window one morning, a glint of yellow caught my eye. Sure enough the jonquils were emerging. They’d pushed their strong green st ..read more

by Zena Dell Lowe @ZenaDellLowe Believability—credibility—is one of the foundational principles of all good storytelling. The acid test of any successful story is, does it work? By “work,” I mean, does your audience buy it? Do they accept the situation and characters you’ve created as real? Do they believe what’s happening? And since the finest writing arcs or changes the inner nature of the character over the course of the telling, does your audience believe that your character is changing in a believable way? Simply put, your audience needs to believe it. They need to be convinced that ..read more