Your favorite holiday event is BACK! Get ready for 14 days of giveaways where you can win over $2500 in writerly prizes. Some of the most knowledgeable and generous people in the industry have joined with us to bring you this Advent Calendar giveaway. Each prize can help you achieve your … [Read more...] about 2021 Advent Calendar for Writers Giveaway Event
Blog
The Art (and Importance) of Specifically Ambiguous Writing
By Harrison Demchick One of the cornerstones of effective writing is specific detail. Specific detail is what grounds the action of a scene in a tangible reality. It’s how we enable readers to see our characters and settings—and not only see them, but also hear, smell, taste, and touch them. When … [Read more...] about The Art (and Importance) of Specifically Ambiguous Writing
Relationship Thesaurus Entry: Benefactor and Recipient
Successful stories are driven by authentic and interesting characters, so it’s important to craft them carefully. But characters don’t usually exist in a vacuum; throughout the course of your story, they’ll live, work, play, and fight with other cast members. Some of those relationships are positive … [Read more...] about Relationship Thesaurus Entry: Benefactor and Recipient
Gifts for Writers (That Skip the Supply Chain)
By now, you've probably read a few news reports about how the pandemic has disrupted the supply chain, and that it may impact shoppers this holiday season. Those of us in the writing industry wonder if Christmas book orders will be printed and delivered in time, especially when there's word of … [Read more...] about Gifts for Writers (That Skip the Supply Chain)
How to Draw Readers in Through a Character’s Choices
Quick, what’s one thing you need in every scene? This question can have a lot of answers – tension, conflict, stakes, emotion, action…on and on it goes. But I would argue one of the most important is one of the most basic: choice. Characters with agency are always doing, acting, and pushing … [Read more...] about How to Draw Readers in Through a Character’s Choices
Relationship Thesaurus Entry: Stepparent and Stepchild
Successful stories are driven by authentic and interesting characters, so it’s important to craft them carefully. But characters don’t usually exist in a vacuum; throughout the course of your story, they’ll live, work, play, and fight with other cast members. Some of those relationships are positive … [Read more...] about Relationship Thesaurus Entry: Stepparent and Stepchild
What’s Your Story’s Focus? Plot vs. Character Arcs
By Jami Gold There are as many ways to tell a story as there are stories in existence. That means not all writing advice will be a good fit with the story we’re trying to tell. An important step in knowing which advice to heed and which to ignore is being aware of the type of story we’re … [Read more...] about What’s Your Story’s Focus? Plot vs. Character Arcs
How to Show Emotion for Non-Viewpoint Characters
Those of you who are familiar with me know that Angela Ackerman and I talk a lot about emotion. A LOT. That’s because we believe that clearly conveying emotion—particularly that of the protagonist or viewpoint character—plays an important role in building reader empathy. If we … [Read more...] about How to Show Emotion for Non-Viewpoint Characters
Best Black Friday Deals for Writers
This year we're starting Black Friday early because let's face it, it's been almost two years of ROUGH SAILING, and writers deserve a break. We've scoured the writerly landscape and rustled up a list of the best deals out there. Dates are listed for each deal. Unless otherwise stated, they … [Read more...] about Best Black Friday Deals for Writers
Phenomenal First Pages Contest
Hey, wonderful writerly people! It’s time for our monthly first-page critique contest 🙂 This contest is closed! If you’re working on a first page (in any genre except erotica) and would like some objective feedback, please leave a comment. Any comment :). As long as the email address … [Read more...] about Phenomenal First Pages Contest
3 Simple Tricks to Immerse Your Reader In Your Story
By Marissa Graff As writers, fusing our protagonist with the reader creates the ultimate reading experience. Teacher and writer John Gardener referred to this as “the fictional dream.” It’s a state the reader reaches whereby they feel as though they are inside the story, inside the character’s … [Read more...] about 3 Simple Tricks to Immerse Your Reader In Your Story
Relationship Thesaurus Entry: Friends
Successful stories are driven by authentic and interesting characters, so it’s important to craft them carefully. But characters don’t usually exist in a vacuum; throughout the course of your story, they’ll live, work, play, and fight with other cast members. Some of those relationships are positive … [Read more...] about Relationship Thesaurus Entry: Friends