If you’ve wondered whether the story you’re writing should be in present tense or past tense, you’re in good company. The short answer is: do whatever feels right for you and your story. Since that’s about as helpful as a crocheted bicycle, however, I decided to dive a little deeper into the debate. Read about […]
Writing Craft
Repurposing Those Writing Fragments – On the RMFW Blog
If you’re like me (and every other writer), you’ve got a folder (or 12) of scraps of writing you’ve never done anything with. Writing exercises, ideas for scenes you never used, character sketches for characters you deleted after the second chapter. Those writing fragments can be mined and repurposed, turned into something new, or maybe […]
Top 10 Ways Not to Start a Story, Part 2 – RMFW Blog This Week
This week, I’m diving deeper into why some story beginnings may not work well for your book. Please click here to check out my article on the Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers blog: “Top 10 Ways Not to Start a Story, Part 2.” As always, I’ll see you back here on my own site in a […]
10 Ways Not to Start a Story – RMFW blog this week
Opening pages are the gateway into your story. If those opening pages don’t grab your reader (or agent or editor), they’ll slam that gate shut and move on to the next book. You won’t get a second chance to hook them again. But openings are hard, usually because we draft them before we truly understand […]
An Unexpected Benefit of Critique Groups
When you think of critique groups, you probably assume (hope) that they’ll give you some constructive feedback to improve a scene, chapter, or story. But did you know that’s only half of the benefit you can gain from a critique group? And it’s probably not even the most important half. I’m blogging about this over […]
A Writer’s Tribe: Critiquers, Alpha Readers, and Beta Readers, Oh My!
What’s the difference between alpha readers, critique groups, beta readers, sensitivity readers, developmental editors, and all the other reader/editor types out there? And what are we writers supposed to do with them all? Each one has a role to play in making your story the best it can be, whether you’re polishing your manuscript to […]
