Have you lost control of your story? Has it decided the path you charted (by plotting, pantsing, or whatever) is not the way things are going to go? Is it a rebellion of sorts? A mutiny? Before you hoist the white flag of surrender, there are strategies to consider that can bring things back into balance and help you regain the upper hand. Plot In the Ditch? The story that was set to begin with a cruise to the Bahamas … Read More »

A major challenge that writers for young readers face is having one’s work taken seriously. And I don’t mean just the response to the published book/piece, but the actual work of writing for a young audience. A sure-fire way to make a kind, unassuming children’s author foam at the mouth, or go for the jugular is to comment: “Well, that must have been easy to write, it’s only nine words long.” Or, “That must not have taken long to write.” … Read More »

Have you lost control of your story? Has it decided the path you charted (by plotting, pantsing, or whatever) is not the way things are going to go? Is it a rebellion of sorts? A mutiny? Before you hoist the white flag of surrender, there are strategies to consider that can bring things back into balance and help you regain the upper hand. Plot In the Ditch? The story that was set to begin with a cruise to the Bahamas … Read More »

Lately there’s both a lot of shoulder shrugging, and a lot of fear around generative AI making inroads into creative endeavors. Everybody seems to have some opinion about it, from Wow, so cool! To  OMG! It’s going to take over! So of course, I had to try out a few things to see how well generative AI could reproduce one of my creative loves, poetry. Below is a very shortened run-down of my wrangling with ChatGPT and poetry. I started … Read More »

When writing fiction, we often focus on the plot, and our characters become vehicles for moving the narrative forward. However, if we want readers to become invested in the story, we need to create protagonists who will draw them in. So what are some concrete strategies for helping readers identify with our main characters and develop some sort of attachment? How can we be sure readers care about what happens to these fictional friends, and that they stick around to … Read More »

As writers, we know that the three basic elements of a fictional story are character, setting, and plot. We spend a lot of time planning and developing each of those elements. However, if we want to create a story that really captures readers, we need to be mindful of the stakes. When we talk about stakes, we’re referring to what might be gained or lost in the story. The higher the stakes, the more compelling the story. If the protagonist … Read More »