Share on facebook Facebook Share on twitter Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > Recently, someone asked about the structure of the action-adventure plot. How quickly should the writer get to the problem? How many pages in each chapter? How should the chapter arc work? How…
Share on facebook Facebook Share on twitter Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > Within Reason People write stories for all kinds of reasons. Some do it to pass on experiences in their own life and family. Some do it to impart life lessons to help a…
Share on facebook Facebook Share on twitter Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > In a way, every story is a story of transformation. Circumstances change. Characters experience revelations. Challenges are met and overcome. The longer the work you’re writing, the more transformations are likely to…
Share on facebook Facebook Share on twitter Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > Along with writing, I also draw a bit and work with polymer clay. On some days, it seems I can draw or sculpt anything. My little clay creatures end up with charming…
Share on facebook Facebook Share on twitter Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > I don’t do much rhyming work. I’ve written some poetry for magazines and poetry for testing services, but the bulk of what I write is prose. I enjoy adding a little surprise…
Share on facebook Facebook Share on twitter Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > As a professional writer, I spend a lot of time thinking about sources. Whether I’m writing fiction or nonfiction, sources are important, because nothing feels worse than having a reader point out…
Share on facebook Facebook Share on twitter Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > I picked Kelly Milner Halls’ quote about her excitement at finding new weird topics to write about, because I think it’s key to nonfiction writing. It’s key to fiction writing. It’s key…
Share on facebook Facebook Share on twitter Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > Although writing is an art and a passion for me, I also really have to be paid, because writing is my full-time job. I’ve done some short bits for friends with little…
Share on facebook Facebook Share on twitter Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > There’s a famous quote attributed to Blaise Pascal: “I have made this letter longer than usual, only because I have not had the time to make it shorter.” Anyone who has tried…
Share on facebook Facebook Share on twitter Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > Planning a story or book can seem very counterintuitive to some writers who prefer a very organic process of simply sitting down and facing a blank page (or empty screen). There are…
Share on facebook Facebook Share on twitter Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > At this point in my writing career, I have never won any prestigious awards, but I do make a living from my writing so I feel pretty successful. Success means something different…
Share on facebook Facebook Share on twitter Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > In any story, a character must do something. A character who just bobs along on the current of everyone else’s actions and decisions isn’t worthy of being in your story, and definitely…
Share on facebook Facebook Share on twitter Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > Recently I’ve been reviving an old love for drawing and sculpting. I’m never going to make a living at it, but I enjoy it. Connected to this hobby, I’ve also been looking…
Share on facebook Facebook Share on twitter Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > All writers, whether brand new or seasoned veterans, get stuck sometimes. Even those of us who outline extensively before we begin sometimes realize the plot is simply not working and a new…
Share on facebook Facebook Share on twitter Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > At this point, I have sold well over two dozen mystery novels for adults and have written and sold mysteries for children, both as short stories and chapter books. In fact, many…
Share on facebook Facebook Share on twitter Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > Most of us know that how a story or book starts is extremely important. It is with those first words that an agent decides whether to consider representing you, whether an editor…
Share on facebook Facebook Share on twitter Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > One of the most valuable things writers can do in our society is tell the truth. But the truth requires facts and facts require research. We have all kinds of valuable research…
Share on facebook Facebook Share on twitter Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > Many people decide they must be picture book writers because 1. they think all books for young children are picture books, and/or2. they want to write short things, and/or3. they assume picture…
Share on facebook Facebook Share on twitter Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > When I was in elementary school, we lived about four blocks from the school. It was a straight shot from the schoolyard to my house. No turns. No problem. Starting in second…
Share on facebook Facebook Share on twitter Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > Last week, I talked about writing things that were sure to make a sale for me, sure to give me that reward. One of those things for many writers is nonfiction. Nonfiction…