Advice from Professional Writers (11)

One of my favorite things about this blog is when I come across topics that other writers find helpful in their writing. These posts will get the most views, and I think the writers I reach here are thankful for my love to share the things I’ve gathered in my toolbox over the years. I

Writing isn’t necessarily about Making Money

The Truth You can make money from writing. There are a lot of places that will pay you for your copywriting, or you can search and submit to markets looking for the writing you do, but more often than not, Writing is its own reward. There are so many other reasons we write, and if

Advice from Professional Writers (7)

**Alice Adams’s Pattern For Writing A Short Story The ABDCE Pattern for Writing a Short Story “The letters stand for Action, Background, Development, Climax, and Ending. You begin with compelling Action to draw the reader in. The Background is where you … see and know who these people are, how they’ve come to be together, what was going on before the

6 Questions to Ask Yourself Before You Write a Short Story

(These questions work for both Novels and Short Stories) Who are your Protagonist and Antagonist? Without these two characters, you will find it hard to get going because this is where your conflict comes from. And conflict is what we want to read about. Your Protagonist has a goal, and your Antagonist opposes that goal. Can you tell your story

Advice from Professional Writers (6)

A few weeks ago, I began a series of posts with words of wisdom from different authors. I ‘collect’ these whenever I come across them. I will share these with you – (my readers) for October and November as I work on my outline for NaNoWriMo, as well as teaching my class, ‘Mustang Patty Teaches

Advice from Professional Writers (5)

A few weeks ago, I began a series of posts with words of wisdom from different authors. I ‘collect’ these whenever I come across them. I will share these with you – (my readers) for October and November as I work on my outline for NaNoWriMo, as well as teaching my class, ‘Mustang Patty Teaches

Advice from Professional Writers (4)

A few weeks ago, I began a series of posts with words of wisdom from different authors. I ‘collect’ these whenever I come across them. I will share these with you – (my readers) for October and November as I work on my outline for NaNoWriMo, as well as teaching my class, ‘Mustang Patty Teaches

Advice from Professional Writers (3)

Over the past four years or so, I’ve been collecting bits and pieces of advice given from writers who have made their mark in the writing world. Today, I’d like to share suggestions for self-editing. I know that not everyone can afford to take editing classes, but you can develop a routine to polish your

One Way to Create the Characters for your Story

Developing characters for any piece of fiction is both challenging and fun. Where else do you get to build a person from the ground up? As a writer, you can create these characters to be likable or not. They can be handsome/beautiful, rich/poor – whatever WORKS for your story. Some of us are lucky enough

Some Tips on Writing a Mystery/Crime story

As the deadline for submissions to the 2021 Indie Authors’ Mystery/Crime Anthology draws near, here are a few tips for those who are struggling with the concept and deadline. Your story could fall into one of the following categories: 1.    Mystery fiction includes police procedurals, private detective, and cozy mysteries. A crime has already been committed (usually a