Breathe in. Breathe out. And have a cup of tea.
Joseph made breakfast and tea, then spilled it. This sentence may state what is happening in a story, but it doesn’t evoke much emotion in the reader. The empathy comes and goes as quickly as the words pass through the mind. It’s a good example of a “tell” sentence that gives a reader the knowledge … Continue reading Small, Important Details
I first saw this challenge going around a few weeks ago, and then I was tagged by the absolutely lovely Azelyn Klein on her blog Word Storm. Challenge rules: Challenge at least one person. Share the first book you ever read. Why did you read it in the first place? How did it inspire you … Continue reading The First Book You Ever Read Challenge
“Everyone joins a band in this life. And what you play always affects someone. Sometimes, it affects the world.”—Music This is a theme that runs through Mitch Albom’s most recent work, The Magic Strings of Frankie Presto. A band can be anything from a family to a musical group to a bunch of friends, and … Continue reading Review: The Magic Strings of Frankie Presto
From Harry Potter’s scar to Katniss Everdeen’s braid, from Éowyn of Rohan’s removing her helmet to Klaus Baudelaire’s adjusting his glasses, and from Elizabeth Bennet’s sass to Hazel Lancaster’s increased difficulty to breathe, descriptions in books help understand each and every character, movement, and emotion more and help us to build the film-like pictures in … Continue reading Writing Character Descriptions: Appearance
Everyone has their different things that make them melt. In friendships, in love, and in books. Those moments when eyes meet words and hearts race, when hands touch rough edges and stomachs flutter, when smiles are shared and eyes close. That feeling of unadulterated joy and contentedness just floods over all of your senses and … Continue reading Seven Ways to Win My Bookish Heart
Blue eyes, grey skies, red lights, and black nights. Colours are always surrounding us, in life, nature, and fiction. And they have become very cliché over the years and centuries in which they’ve been used to describe appearances of people, the world, and everything in between. They’ve also been used as symbols and pathetic fallacies, … Continue reading Writing: Breaking Colour Clichés
Synopsis: the System controls everything, minus one group of rebels, some of whom have special abilities. When one of the rebels is taken, her brother, Levi, goes to the group's leaders and then embarks on a journey with Ava and Leymah to rescue her. As they go, they realise there are fewer people whom they … Continue reading Book Review: Article Three
Tea in hand, Google Docs pulled up, Harry Potter soundtracks blaring through my headphones, and a desire to write (and hopefully motivation and inspiration to go with it). This is a common picture of how I start writing on whatever project on any given day. But lately, I’ve found myself sitting down and just staring...and … Continue reading Writing: Planning a Scene
There are countless ways to approach writing an outline for your novel. Sometimes it takes multiple forms to get just one outline put together. I recently finished my first “complete” outline for a book that I’ve had in my head for three years. I did so by combining three of the outlining styles I’ve heard … Continue reading Writing: Creating an Outline
When it comes to my blog posts, I plan really far in advance. I know it isn’t exactly an outline, but it works as one. Then there are my short stories and my novel. For these, I’m usually a “pantser,” writing everything that comes to mind as it arrives. But I’ve learned over the last … Continue reading Anxiety and Outlining