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MYC: Two Opinions on Revising While Drafting

Welcome to this week’s Master Your Craft post! Each Wednesday we’ll discuss prewriting and drafting a new book from the BIG IDEA to QUERYING. Last week, we looked at the saggy middle. Today we’re tackling a somewhat controversial subject: revising while drafting. Two of our Pennies sat down and discussed their different approaches to revising your manuscript while you’re still drafting it. Richelle: When I say … Continue reading MYC: Two Opinions on Revising While Drafting

Richelle MorganJuly 26, 2017May 2, 2019Leave a comment

Creativity and Craft, Master Your Craft

MYC: Conquering the Dreaded Blank Page (and other drafting tricks)

Welcome to this week’s Master Your Craft post! Each Wednesday we’ll discuss prewriting and drafting a new book from the BIG IDEA to QUERYING. Last week, we reviewed our treasure trove of pre-writing posts. Today we’re on to starting — and keeping going on — your first draft. You’ve finally arrived. You’ve got your coffee (or tea), your snacks, your favorite writing socks. Your writing space is … Continue reading MYC: Conquering the Dreaded Blank Page (and other drafting tricks)

Richelle MorganJuly 12, 2017May 2, 2019Leave a comment

Contests, Four on 400

The July #Fouron400 Contest Window is OPEN!

Q: What is Four on 400? A monthly contest that provides ONE LUCKY MG or YA WRITER with feedback on their opening 400 WORDS! As part of our ongoing mission to support writers, we’ll give a MG or YA writer feedback on their work from four of The Winged Pen’s contributors. Q: Sounds exciting! How do I enter? To enter, simply comment at the bottom of this post! At 4pm (EST) … Continue reading The July #Fouron400 Contest Window is OPEN!

Richelle MorganJuly 4, 2017May 9, 201832 Comments

Contests, Feedback, Four on 400

Four on 400: June Feedback

Thank you to all the brave souls who entered this month’s Four on 400 contest! Sharing your writing takes courage, and we appreciate your enthusiasm for our contest. Below, we’ve posted the first 400 words from this month’s winner, along with feedback from at least four of our members. We also encourage our readers to share their (constructive) suggestions and encouragement in the comments section below. Working Title: … Continue reading Four on 400: June Feedback

Richelle MorganJune 13, 2017August 8, 20181 Comment

Writer's Life

Halfway through 2017 (GASP!) — Let’s Do a Goal Check-in!

Waaaayyyy back in January, I wrote a New Year’s post about goal-setting. A few of my fellow Pennies were inspired by that post to write down their goals with me – remembering to be specific, set deadlines, stay flexible, and above all, not beat ourselves up if we didn’t quite hit our marks. Now that it’s June, about halfway through the year, I wanted to … Continue reading Halfway through 2017 (GASP!) — Let’s Do a Goal Check-in!

Richelle MorganJune 5, 2017June 2, 2017Leave a comment

Creativity and Craft, Master Your Craft

Master Your Craft: The Big Idea

Welcome to this week’s Master Your Craft post! Each Wednesday we’ll discuss prewriting and drafting a new book from the BIG IDEA to QUERYING. (For more information, see last week’s intro post.) This week, I’ll discuss The Big Idea. So you’re ready to write a novel. You’ve got a character, maybe a scene, a vague idea of the plot…you’re ready to sit down and start writing, right? … Continue reading Master Your Craft: The Big Idea

Richelle MorganApril 12, 2017May 1, 20194 Comments

Creativity and Craft, Master Your Craft

Introducing Master Your Craft: A New Series by the Winged Pen

The last month has been an exciting time here at The Winged Pen as Pennies have been hard at work behind the scenes coming up with a surprise for you. Today, to coincide with Camp NaNo – the virtual writer’s retreat that helps you fit writing into your busy life – we’re excited to launch our new blog series: Master Your Craft with the Winged … Continue reading Introducing Master Your Craft: A New Series by the Winged Pen

Richelle MorganApril 5, 2017April 4, 20173 Comments

Writer's Life

How To Give Good Critique

We’ve talked before about the need for critique partners to help you create your best work. (Jessica Vitalis had some great suggestions about how to find the right critique partners.) But finding critique partners is only half the battle. If you want to have an ongoing, productive critique relationship – and write your best novel! – you also need to know how to be a good … Continue reading How To Give Good Critique

Richelle MorganMarch 20, 2017March 19, 20179 Comments

Writing Tools

DIY Infographics and other Cool Marketing Things

If you’ve spent any time online recently (which, yeah, maybe you’ve been avoiding it as much as we have!), you’ve probably seen these cool graphic communication tools known as infographics. Infographic is really just a fancy way of saying “a picture and a few words working together to communicate key information or important messaging.” They give people an easy, at-a-glance way of gathering info, and … Continue reading DIY Infographics and other Cool Marketing Things

Richelle MorganFebruary 17, 2017June 13, 20204 Comments

Four on 400

Our February #Fouron400 Kidlit Writing Contest Window is now Open!

Richelle MorganFebruary 4, 2017April 4, 201723 Comments

Writer's Life

The Four C’s — Yoga Rules for Writing

Back when I took my first yoga class, the teacher warned us to avoid “The Four C’s” – comparing, competing, complaining, and criticizing. I can still vividly remember feeling so chastised – I had committed every single one of those sins! In the years since that first class, The Four C’s have popped into my head at various times – while taking yoga or other … Continue reading The Four C’s — Yoga Rules for Writing

Richelle MorganFebruary 1, 2017January 29, 20174 Comments

Creativity and Craft

Craft Intensive: Building Backstory

As a couple of my fellow Pennies can tell you, I love to do a deep dive on characters’ feelings and motivations. In fact, one of my favorite things to do while writing and critiquing is to explore and uncover why the characters act the way they do. I’m also a firm believer in that old adage that the easiest way to know what someone is … Continue reading Craft Intensive: Building Backstory

Richelle MorganJanuary 16, 2017January 16, 20173 Comments