We all love to be afraid from time to time. That is why we listen to ghost stories with rapt attention from a very young age. It thrills us, makes us look over our shoulders, but we always come
back for more.
Writing Tips
Writing Characters: Know Them Well
The characters of your story moves your story forward. In order to create characters that are real, you must first get to know your own characters well. You need to know them so well that you get inside their heads.
Writer’s Block: Breaking the Chains
We’ve all been there. Staring at the blank page wondering what we’re doing, how we got here, and what on earth to do next. For some it may be a few hours, for others it may be years. I was one of the unfortunate ones who let the Block chain me down for four years….
What Exactly is Creative Nonfiction?
When I was an undergraduate at UNM (University of New Mexico), I took Intermediate Creative Nonfiction, a class that should have branched out into various forms of nonfiction, but instead stuck solely to memoir and the personal essay. This does not mean I am not in favor of the memoir; it is the genre that holds…
How to Edit My Work for Submissions
When I started piano lessons, my teacher insisted I do daily exercises to improve speed, dexterity, and precision. I dreaded tedious repetition of drills designed to fine-tune my playing or, as my teacher put it, “to do your best work.”
5 Writer’s Blogs You Should Be Reading
I tried to make this easy. I started with 10 blogs, and then I realized that, that’s a lot to follow. Here are the top 5 author sites you should be following. They are fun and entertaining, so this shouldn’t be difficult.
Help Me Name My Character
I see the questions on Twitter about once a week: Can you please help me name my characters? What is a good Swedish name for a character?
10 Days to Write Better: A Writing Challenge
10 Days to Write Better: A Writing Challenge Writers are always looking for the ways to hone creative skills and work on certain trouble areas. The writing challenge is a great way to exercise your writing,
13 Ways to Overcome a Reading Slump
Thirteen relatively easy, tried and true favorite ways to bridge that reading void. 1) Return to an old-favorite. There is a reason why we always feel like we are returning home again, use that nostalgia, excitement, and passion to get you back to being the reading machine you truly are! 2) Make an achievable goal….
10 Tips on How to Overcome Writer’s Block
Writer’s block is something that can be discouraging to anyone. No writer wants to be in a position where your mind go blank in the middle of your writing.
5 Reasons Why Writers Should Focus on Creativity
What kind of writing do you do on a regular basis? Are you a digital writing professional? A copywriter? An expert who focuses on social media campaigns and content curation?
Going to be a Writer? Here are 5 things you need to love.
There is a tendency on the part of non-writers to romanticize the professional lives of writers. For many young writers starting out, this same romanticism is what drives them to write
How long is a short story? A question for the ages
The short story usually falls between 1,000 and 15,000 words. At around 15,000 words the novella is born. We are addressing the modern short story and not the ancient tale, fable, or sketch. There is no exact word length, and to
My 5 Favorite Northeast Ohio Bookstores
What does an aspiring fiction writer and full-time English teacher do for fun these days, you ask?
Why, visit bookstore after bookstore (after bookstore), of course!
Best Editing Tools for Bloggers
Here are some suggestions on finding the best editing tools for bloggers. After you spend hours or even days working on a single blog post and organizing your notes and references like a maniac, you finally have a great blog post ready to be posted.