There are many skills and personal traits that can help you be a better writer. Confidence might not be the first one to come to mind, but it’s more important than you might think. If you want to be successful as a writer, you need to believe in your work and your abilities. You also need to be confident enough to share your work with … Continue reading Tips for Building Confidence as a Writer
I love the kinds of stories that make you look in the dark corners of your room or order a clear shower curtain so you know if a knife-wielding man dressed as a woman is going to stab you. (True story – I watched the movie Shutter Island while on the treadmill. I couldn’t stop looking behind me. You can see how that’s not a … Continue reading Tackling the Terrifying. How to Write Scary
September 28 – September 30, 2018, I spent the weekend at the SCBWI Carolinas “Word and Line” conference. The weekend was filled with craft, networking, and catching up with fellow writers and Pennies. But you know the feeling you get after spending a week or weekend at a workshop or conference filling your mind with ideas, tips, inspiration, and motivation? It’s a little exhaustion, a … Continue reading Conferences – Sharing What I Learn
Laurel Decher is an author and writer for The Winged Pen. We are very excited to share her story, TROUBLE WITH PARSNIPS, learn about her writing process, and decision to self-publish. When you’re 15th in line to the throne, it’s hard to make a name for yourself. The youngest princess of Cochem still needs a christening and she’s ten. She can’t get a word in … Continue reading Laurel Decher Talks TROUBLE WITH PARSNIPS and Self-Publishing
Welcome to this week’s Master Your Craft post! Last year, we walked you through every step from getting the big idea through polishing your finished novel. Now we’re talking about what to do when you’re ready to put that book out in the world. Last week we heard from Agent Hilary Harwell on querying from an agent’s perspective. This week, we’re going to talk about rejection. No. Nope. … Continue reading MYC: Surviving Rejection
Welcome to this week’s Master Your Craft post! Last year, we walked you through every step from getting the big idea through polishing your finished novel. Our bonus post this week dipped back into craft and how to give your story cliffhangers. Last week, we were all about querying strategy. Naturally, this week is about The Waiting Game and how to play it. <cue game show music> … Continue reading MYC: The Waiting Game and 15 Ways to Play It
Welcome to this week’s Master Your Craft post! Each Wednesday we’ll discuss writing a new book from the BIG IDEA to QUERYING. Last year, we walked you through every step from getting the big idea through polishing your finished novel. Last time, we discussed the Dreaded Synopsis. This week we’ll help you get organized as you research agents. Finding an agent is just as much about you as … Continue reading MYC: Researching Agents
So you’ve finished your book, polished and pruned and read it through a few million times. What do you do now? The Winged Pen’s Master Your Craft (#WPMYC) Series is back to guide you through all the hard work that comes after you finally complete your novel. Next week, we’ll be tackling the very first question you should ask yourself when you’ve revised as much … Continue reading It’s BACK! Master Your Craft Returns
The other day, several of us Pennies realized that it is now, in fact, 2018. Where did 2017 go?!? If you’re also wondering just what happened to 2017, welcome to our club! And to help you reorient yourself, we thought we’d revisit some of the Winged Pen 2017 highlights. If you missed a post last year, this one’s for you. (And feel free to sign … Continue reading ICYMI: Winged Pen Highlights from 2017
For the last couple of years, every time one of my writer pals would ask me what I was working on, the answer was the same breezy, “Oh, I’m still plugging away on that rockstar mom book I told you about ages ago.” I’m pretty sure that more than a few of them wondered if I shouldn’t just give it up and move on to … Continue reading How to Survive Your Toughest Draft
The end of the year is close. When I changed the calendar from October to November, I felt as if I wasted the entire year. Of course I spent too much time on social media, binge-watched several TV shows, and stood for what seemed like hours in front of the coffee machine waiting for the cup to fill, but as far as writing, what exactly … Continue reading What Did I Do in 2017?
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!
