How to Cultivate Inspiration

No matter how much we love our stories and love writing, there will be times when we don’t feel like writing. When we don’t feel inspired. When our well of creativity runs dry. Sometimes the answer is to take a break — if possible, of course. Just chill and let yourself recharge. Other times, the

How to Deepen Your World Building

For me, world building tends to be a double edged sword. It’s cool and fun, but also overwhelming. Especially when you have giants like Tolkien and Brandon Sanderson to compare yourself to. Unfortunately, with world building, you just kind of have to dive in and do it. It might take some noodling, but — trust

Cultivating a Writer’s Outlook

As writers, we’re constantly trying to improve our craft. We want to write better each day, and create better stories. One of the ways to do that is research. Another is practice. Yet another is learning to relate to the world like a writer, and, in my opinion, that is one of the most important

What The MCU’s Spider-Man Can Teach Us About Writing

(SPOILERS FOR SPIDER-MAN: HOMECOMING, SPIDER-MAN: FAR FROM HOME, AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR, AND AVENGERS: ENDGAME — READ AT YOUR OWN RISK) I’m gonna let you in a little secret that is probably not very secret. I love Marvel’s Spider-Man movies. And it’s not just because Tom Holland is cute, okay? I mean… it’s probably part of

Writerly Resources For Authors

With NaNoWrimo coming up, I figured a post like this might be helpful. Over the years, I’ve curated different writerly resources from conscientiously (*cough cough* read that as “obsessively”) researching the writing craft. So now I’m gonna share them. This is totally NOT because I didn’t feel like writing a full-on blog post this week.

What Fictional Relationships Teach Us About Writing Romances

I know. We already did a relationships post. But we didn’t do one focusing specifically on ROMANCE. So now we’re going to. I’m not even sorry. Now, I write science fiction and fantasy, not romance, but I love a good romantic subplot. Emphasis on good. Because, let’s face it, a badly done or even *cough

Enola Holmes and Good Female Characters

So I watched Enola Holmes. And, if I’m being honest, I wasn’t expecting that much — no shade to the writers, producers, and actors! I just figured it was going to be teenage adventure movie with a Strong Female Protagonist that was likable enough but fell into the Epic Girl Who Can Kill a Man

Villains Are Characters Too

Hehe, sorry for the title. I had to. Anyway. In my early writing days, villains were hard for me to write. They usually came off as creepy cardboard cutouts. Boring — at least to me. I want my readers to be intimidated by my villains, and it’s hard (in my opinion) to be afraid of