Do you read short stories? Have you written any? I love them and have written a few of my own. This month, it seems as if short stories dominated my reading list. I judged a teen short story contest with 33 entries and read two books of short stories. As you can see, I’ve thought of nothing else and that is what prompted this post. … Continue reading Tips for Writing Short Stories
Have you ever wondered whether you’re writing in the right point of view (POV) for the story you’re trying to tell? The right tense?
Revising an entire manuscript from 3rd person to 1st is no small task. The task is made a whole lot bigger yet when you add a tense change on top of that. My revision of a 90,000+ word manuscript for both POV and tense took a couple months to complete.
To hear what I learned by doing this huge revision, read this post. Continue reading Why I Revised My Manuscript from 3rd Person, Past to 1st Person, Present & How I Plan to Avoid Doing That Again
If you are asked to list the writing advice you’ve been given, your list will be similar to others. Show don’t tell. The three act structure. Write what you know. This last one is what we’re going to look at today. Specifically, what it means, what the perks are, and how to do it. The phrase write what you know means to choose an aspect … Continue reading Write What You Know. What Does That Mean?
It’s exciting to have one debut novel coming out in a year, but two? Today we are talking with Nicole Lesperance, middle grade and young adult author, who has two novels debuting in 2021! TWP Let’s start with introducing your two novels debuting this year. The Nightmare Thief and The Wide Starlight. Can you give us a brief summary of each? Nicole The Nightmare Thief … Continue reading Double Debut: Interview with Nicole Lesperance
Welcome to 2021! We are all anxious to put 2020 behind us and focus on a new year filled with promise and productivity. There are dreams of writing the next book, attending conferences, and having books signed in person! However, I realize the promise of a great 2021 may take a while to arrive and instead of being discouraged, I have been inspired online challenges … Continue reading Tic Tac Toe for Writers
All of us at The Winged Pen are looking forward to seeing the end of 2020 and have high hopes for 2021…especially all the new Pennie books coming out, including Halli Gomez’s LIST OF TEN, Jessica Vitalis’s THE WOLF’S CURSE, Gabrielle K. Byrne’s THE EDGE OF STRANGE HOLLOW, and Gita Trelease’s EVERYTHING THAT BURNS. To prepare for the excitement, we’re going to take a few weeks off. But never … Continue reading Goodbye 2020 Road Trip
Today we’re talking with a few 2021 debut authors about writing in multiple points of view. As writers we know it’s hard to get the character arc and voice down for one character, but two, three, four? Let’s see how these authors tackle this writing style. TWP: Why did you decide to write in more than one POV? One of the central questions my book … Continue reading How to Write in Multiple Points of View
I’ve been thinking about manuscript critique and revision a lot lately.
A LOT, a lot.
I’ve been working on a young adult thriller that feels like it has taken forever to pound into shape. As one of my critique partners mentioned more than once, “You don’t have to write 95,000-word manuscripts with 4 point-of-view characters. There are easier stories to write.”
True enough. And I’m extremely lucky to have wonderful critique partners (CPs) who will read my 95,000-word monstrosity and help me make it better.
As I revised on my own and then with notes from CPs, I spent a lot of time thinking about manuscript critiques and. . .
Continue reading 8 Tips for Getting a Great Manuscript Critique
Today we’re hosting Angela Ackerman and Becca Puglisi of Writers Helping Writers on the blog. They’ll tell you a bit about their Writer’s Showcase event, new book, and a great freebie to check out. Awesome, right? Continue reading A Resource to Help You Choose the Right Job for Your Character + Giveaway
Debut groups. What writers with their first publishing contracts are a part of. Ah, the dream! For years I’ve seen the hashtags of debut groups. We’ve all heard of the most recent Novel19s and Roaring20s, right? As soon as I had serious interest in my young adult novel, List of Ten, I realized I was clueless about the next steps. If my book sold, what would … Continue reading A Peek Inside the Author Debut Group
I don’t know about you, but I’m on my way to rocking the quarantine fifteen, and before this is over, I’ll have passed the quaranineteen. And as I plop myself down at my desk every morning, I’m realizing that it’s just as important to feed our minds as it is our bodies… Continue reading Quarantine Creativity Boost
“For the dreamers who sat down to tell a story that no one asked them to write.” – Before and After the Book Deal I am a dreamer and because you are here, you must be too. That also means you have questions and lots of them. I do not have all of the answers, but I can direct you to a book that does. … Continue reading The Book with Answers to All Your Publishing Questions – BEFORE AND AFTER THE BOOK DEAL
