Defining Your Author Brand Part 1
What is a platform for writers and how do you build one? Kristin Dawson breaks down how new and experienced writers can start building their author brand.
From Real Life to the Written Page: Inspired by People You Know or Have Met
Facebook Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > “Writers, do not wait for inspiration. You need to arm yourself and track inspiration down and mount its head over your fireplace.” – Erin Bow This quote makes me laugh. It’s a reminder to open my eyes and…
Self-Care Matters
Share on facebook Facebook Share on twitter Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > Writing never happens in a vacuum. It’s always something we’re throwing into the stewpot of life, hoping that the writing isn’t overwhelmed by the other ingredients. But in order for that to…
From Real Life to the Written Page: Using Your Emotions and Beliefs
Facebook Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > “For sale: baby shoes, never used.”* That gets an immediate reaction from me. It implies sadness, loss, grief in only six words. We want our readers to react emotionally to our writing as well. But where do we…
Specific Requirements of a Publishable Real-Life Account
Share on facebook Facebook Share on twitter Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > Sometimes the real world inspires us to write. When that happens, we often take real life and twist it, turn it, plump it up, pare it down, and patch it with fiction…
From Real Life to the Written Page: Using Others’ Experiences Along With Your Own
Facebook Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > Ever read a story that felt unrealistic? I sure have. And I’ve seen it too many times to count in TV shows and movies. For example, the unconscious patient with the hospital bed rails down. Right. I’m sure…
How to Use What You Remember
Share on facebook Facebook Share on twitter Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > In real life you can find constant fuel for your writer’s imagination. I’ve written articles, essays, and books triggered by things I’ve seen on television or read in magazines. I’ve used my…
From Real Life to the Written Page: Using Where You’ve Lived
Facebook Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > The old adage “write what you know” definitely has value, especially when you use places you’ve experienced. Lived in a dry climate? You know the feel of grit blown into your eye and the scent of freshly rain-dampened…
Setting the Stage for Nonfiction Success
Nonfiction is a deep market, popular with readers, and well worth considering. Today we chat about what it takes to be successful in nonfiction for kids.
Hooking the Reader
Facebook Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > With all the competition from Kindle Unlimited, self-published books, and traditional publishing’s blitz of new releases and re-releases, getting and keeping a reader’s attention has gotten difficult. You need to entice the reader from the very first line,…
Setting the Stage: More On Props
Using props in your setting can give your character interesting things to do and what your character chooses to do will tell the reader about their personality.
Setting as a Character
Write a setting so integral you can enhance your characters’ experiences, drive home your theme and mirror the characters’ journey through the novel.
Choosing a Point of View
Share on facebook Facebook Share on twitter Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > All stories are told by someone. Sometimes it’s a chorus of voices as the writer dips into the consciousness of more than one character, revealing their thoughts. More often it’s told by…
Editing Descriptions to Move Your Story Forward | IFW
Facebook Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > Is your pacing too slow? Need to pull out your writer tools to increase story pacing? This is Part II of my “editing description to move the story forward” article. Part I focused specifically on scene imagery. This…
Elements of Setting
Lengthy descriptions of setting can feel slow and gratuitous, but we mustn’t throw away this essential, tool. Let’s talk about how to do setting well.
Editing Scene Imagery to Move Your Story Forward | IFW
Facebook Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > If you’re looking to increase the tension and keep readers turning the pages, become a master of story imagery. We’re told to have sensory details, and imagery descriptions to create a well developed setting. But imagery runs the…
Setting the Stage: Scenes
Scenes are the building blocks of the story. A scene is simply the action and dialogue that takes place at a specific location in a specific time in the story.
Six Step-by-Steps for Your Book Marketing Plan | IFW
Facebook Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > Having anxiety about creating a book marketing plan? I did, and I’m a marketer. Going through that period of freak-out on my own novel project helped me understand, for the first time, how creating a marketing plan could…
Getting Unstuck
Here is the thing about writing. Eventually, no matter what else you do, you’ll get stuck. It’s uncomfortable and scary but here’s what you do to move past it.
Top 3 Source of Writer’s Block (& How to Jump Over Them Now)
Here are the top 3 sources of writer’s block and how to bust right past them from guest blogger Kristin J. Dawson. Read on for tools to help you right now!
