Archive:
The Writing Craft
Based on what I hear wherever I speak, it’s clear that beginning writers agonize as much over find their writing voice as over any other issue. Trust me, while it’s crucial you find your unique writing voice, it really isn’t all that complicated. You wouldn’t be able to tell that from the plethora of blogs, […]
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Writing a compelling story, especially if you’re new at this, can be grueling. Conflicting advice online can overwhelm you, making you want to quit before you’ve written a word. But you know more than you think. Stories saturate our lives. We talk, think, and communicate with story in music, on television, in video games, in […]
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Great page-turning stories live or die by their plots. “I took the dog to the park” doesn’t interest me. “You won’t believe what happened when I took the dog to the park” interests me. I want to know what happened, so I’ll stick with you as long as your story holds me. To keep me […]
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If your story starts with anything foreboding—creaking floors, snuffed-out candles, or threatening skies, you’re implying danger or terrible trouble ahead for your main character. Masterful storytellers foreshadow such things with disquieting clues of what’s to come. What is Foreshadowing? And Why is it Important? Foreshadowing is a literary device authors use to lay a foundation […]
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Want Jerry as Your Mentor? Learn More Who she is Her essays have been published in The New York Times Magazine, Newsweek, USA Today, The Chicago Tribune, The Denver Post, Guideposts, and aired on National Public radio. The first two of her five books, My First White Friend: Confessions on Race, Love, and Forgiveness (Viking/Penguin) and I Told the Mountain to Move (Tyndale) were award […]
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