Call for Submissions: February Carnival of Aces

Four cards - the aces of hearts, diamonds, clubs, and spades - laying on a black background like someone set their hand down to show them off.

Hi all! This month, I’m the host for February’s Carnival of Aces.  From the Asexual Agenda: “A Carnival of Aces is a monthly blogging carnival centered on the asexual spectrum (asexuals, gray-As, demisexuals, etc.).  Anyone […]

Why Teens are a Critical Audience for Writers

A large part of the reason I write for teens is because I am one myself, albeit not for much longer.  (I’m nineteen.)  The ideal audience for my writing has grown up along with me […]

The Secret First Draft You Can Work With

(My apologies for the lack of an image; I’m having internet issues, and trying to add one was crashing WordPress tonight.) “Just get the first draft down, even though it’s probably bad, and you can […]

Will I Still Have Time to Write in College?

Ticking clock

If you’re getting close to starting a college career, you might be wondering: how much writing will you have time to do? On one hand, you probably will have time for other things besides homework […]

5 (Non-Serious) Parts of Life That Need More Representation

Restroom sign

As the title indicates, this is more of a fun post – I’m not talking about demographic diversity in fiction this week.  Rather, I’m here to point out several little elements of real life that […]

8 Quirks to Make Your Characters More Unique

Red flower stands out from the others

Want to make your characters more memorable, but aren’t sure how? Here’s a list of eccentricities and quirks you can give them to make them a little more unique.  (Credit for thinking of some of […]

6 Ways To Take Advantage of Summer as a Writer

Teens sitting at campfire with guitar

Well, it’s May 1st, so most of us are wrapping up school and have our eyes on summer.  Maybe you have lots of plans (Yay for vaccines!) or a job, or perhaps you just plan […]

When to Set the Cool Ideas Aside

An insane amount of post-it notes

This is the biggest project you’ve attempted yet.  It’s going to be your masterpiece, and you can unleash the full force of your creativity and writing knowledge gained since your last project.  It’s a fantasy […]

13 Unusual Questions for Character Development

Pink and brown thought bubbles with question marks against a brown background

When you’re creating characters, you have the obvious questions.  What’s their name?  How old are they?  What do they look like?  What are their interests, and what’s their worldview?  Strengths, weaknesses, and deepest fear?  These […]

The 7 Essential Qualities of a Writer

essential qualities of a writer

Someone asked me once what qualities were necessary to “do” English (i.e. in the writing sense).  After thinking a bit, I came up with this list of seven traits.  It’s not meant to be the […]