Category Archives: Tools and Resources
Your Character’s Job May Be More Important than You Think!
Confession time: when I was a newer writer, I didn’t think much about my character’s occupation. In fact, if they needed one, I’d pretty much assign the first thing that came to mind. I didn’t think hard about their career because … Continue reading
10 Steps To Revise Your Nano Novel
by Lucy V Hay So, you did Nanowrimo and you made it to 50K! Congratulations, but you still have work to do. That’s right, now you need to revise … But where to start?? If you are feeling overwhelmed, then … Continue reading
Stuck in No-Man’s-Land: Your Novel’s Middle
If you have hit the point in your draft where you’re looking out at the vast landscape of your novel with no idea where to go next, congratulations…you’ve probably made it to Act 2. I know, I know, there’s an … Continue reading
Dropping Breadcrumbs: How to Show a Character’s Emotional Wound Through Behavior
Emotional wounds are transformative and have the power to re-shape a character in many negative ways, impacting their happiness, their self-worth, and causing mistrust and disillusionment to skew their worldview. This critical piece of backstory is key to understanding their … Continue reading
The Best Resource for Planning Your NaNoWriMo Novel
Can you believe it? We’re less than 10 days from the biggest, craziest, event in Writerville: National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). That means 50,000 words written in one month, and all the coffee, stale pizza, and Skittles you need to … Continue reading
Happy 5th Birthday, One Stop for Writers!
It’s October, which is One Stop for Writers’ BIRTHDAY MONTH. Even better, we’re hitting a very special milestone: it’s been 5 years since the One Stop library opened its doors. FIVE YEARS. WOW! One Stop for Writers is our passion … Continue reading
Why Writers Should Consider NaNoWriMo in 2020
Let’s not mince words: 2020 has been a real crap sandwich. COVID has caused all sorts of struggles, anxiety, and challenges. Some of you have had work disrupted. Others wanted to travel to see loved ones and couldn’t. All of … Continue reading
Character Building: How Much Planning Should I Do? (PART 1)
Not sure how much brainstorming needs to go into each character? You’re not alone. It’s a struggle for many, and unfortunately, there’s no single “right” answer. It really depends on the character’s importance in the story, their function or role, … Continue reading
How to Describe a Location You’ve Never Visited
One of the big decisions writers make is whether to choose a real location for the backdrop of their overall story or create one of their own imaginings. Crafting a world from scratch can be a lot of work (requiring … Continue reading
Why All Writers Need A Structural Toolbox
What Is A Structural Toolbox? Put simply, a structural toolbox is the foundation work all writers need to put in to ensure they … understand how structure works can apply structural techniques to their writing Think of it as a … Continue reading