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A rose by any other name…
One of the awkward things about writing is that we become acutely aware of some of the words we use, especially the ones we use most often. “Said” can make us physically cringe, even though readers often glaze over it. In the same way, saying the same character’s name over and over and over again Read more
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The power of taboo
Worldbuilding is essential to sci-fi and fantasy. Even if your story takes place in modern New York City with some vampires, you still need to build the “world” of those vampires– their culture, their history, their biology, their strengths and weaknesses, their mindsets, and so forth. One way to add flavor to a new culture Read more
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A state of being: what you are vs. what you want
There’s a piece of wisdom passed along the writing circles of this day and age: to round up your linking verbs and off ’em like turkeys on the week before Thanksgiving. At first glance it’s good advice– after all, the natural opposite of a static ‘was’ sentence would be an active sentence, right? Right? Not always. Read more
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Being a Grown-Up
A few weeks ago, I celebrated my 25th birthday, and a few weeks before that, my sixth wedding anniversary. You’d think that at some point, I’d start feeling kind of like an adult or something, right? Read more
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Your eyes are reading this post (unless they aren’t)
A few days ago I found myself writing “his fingers plucked at the strings” in one of my stories. Well, wait. That doesn’t look right. I’ll get the same kind of weird cringe when I see phrases like “his eyes watched” or “his foot stepped”. Why is that, though? It adds unnecessary words. In modern Read more
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What type of Creative are you?
I don’t think I can log onto Facebook anymore without seeing one of those personality tests: “Which Hogwarts house do you belong in?” “What Disney Princess are you?” “What city should you live in?” And right alongside them: “50 things only introverts will understand” and “Only nerds will get these jokes”, etc. So while we’re Read more
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