In July I sat on a panel at Regis University with two other authors and was asked the question, “What advice do you have for writers just starting out?” I thought for a second, leaned into the microphone, then whispered, “Finish a book.” Was my response flippant? Not in the least. I remember writing my…
Tag: writing tips
Oh, the weather outside is ….. perfect for my story!
“If you don’t like it, wait five minutes.” That’s the mantra Coloradoans mumble when the temperature plummets from 70 to 30 in one day. Important plans get interrupted, and you may sprain your back shoveling two feet of wet spring snow off your deck and have to cancel your tennis match. The unpredictability of weather…
5 Ideas to Boost Your Writing Confidence
The blank page is to many authors what a large audience is to a shy and introverted soul asked to give a speech. Terrifying. And it doesn’t help when writing friends are completing that next chapter, submitting another short story to an anthology, or simply garnering another 50 readers to their blog. Before succumbing to…
Tips and Tricks to Surprise and Delight … by Suzanne Young
Do you ever sit down to a blank page and hope an idea will flow from your brain to your fingertips like magic? Then do you simply stare at all that white space as your mind shuts down? I am currently working on the sixth book of my Edna Davies mystery series (Murder by Decay)…
Playing with Rhetoric
In this year of politics we are likely to hear the common complaint, “Oh, that’s just the candidate’s rhetoric. Wait until they’re in office and we’ll see what really happens.” Rhetoric definitely has a bad reputation. The first definition in the dictionary implies that rhetoric allows people to use language for influence and persuasion, but…