Archives for 2011

Writing Lesson 3.9-Genre: What is it?

Please allow me to introduce today’s guest blogger, Shannon McNear! Shannon has been writing one thing or another since third grade and has completed five novels in genres from Southern fiction to Revolutionary War historical to fantasy. She has eight children–two in college and six still homeschooling–but does her best to steal slivers of writing […]

Writing Lesson 3.8-Get Ready for NaNoWriMo!

It’s hard to imagine that any lover of literary lore hasn’t heard of NaNoWriMo, but hey…the truth is sometimes stranger than fiction. NaNoWriMo, short National Novel Writing Month, is billed by it’s non-profit sponsors, the Office of Letters and Light, as “30 days and nights of literary abandon!” You may abandon a lot of things […]

Writing Lesson 3.7-Who is Pilcrow?

I want to introduce my new best friend. We met when I formatted my novel, Grow Old With Me, for publication in various eBook formats. Meet ¶ also known as Pilcrow. This mark should become your best friend too. Pilcrow shows the end of each paragraph and opens access to other non-printing characters in a […]

Writing Lesson 3.6-The Plot Thickens

Sandra Orchard has been our guest contributor this month. She “forgot” to mention in her bio that her unpublished manuscript won the Daphne DuMaurier Award in 2009. I don’t need to tell you that’s a pretty big deal! She sold her first story to Love Inspired Suspense the next year. If you’d like to read […]

Writing Lesson 3.5-A Quick Way to Draw in Your Readers

A guest post by Sandra Orchard Details. Not a hundred of them listed ad nauseum, but key details unique to the POV character that are both fresh and rich in sensory information. Dig deep into the scene. Don’t just say your hero is wearing jeans and a t-shirt. Maybe his mom hung them on the […]