Don’t Think It’s Easier than Writing for Adults. On Writing for Children In my last blog post, I talked about becoming a better writer by trusting your readers more. In this post, I want to talk about how this is especially important when it comes to books written for children and young people. But first, […]
Category: On Writing
Posts, tips, and insights on various aspects of the writing journey and the craft of writing.
Want to be a Better Writer? Trust Your Reader.
So, you want to be a better writer. Every writer does, right? Even bestselling authors can be dissatisfied with their writing skills and want to be better writers. If we have the right mindset, we’ll constantly work to improve some aspects of our writing craft and grow better at it. I thought I was a […]
Characters Are We
Time is unfolding like a scroll, and we are letters on the parchment, helping to make up the words that tell the story. Each of us is a character, in both senses of the word. At times, characters become aware that they’re part of the story, and that brings the realization that, first, there is […]
The Best Books I’ve Read on the Writing Life
There comes a time in every aspiring writer’s life that they decide they want to learn writing from the best writers out there. And that means reading books on writing by successful and well-loved authors. Fortunately, there are plenty of options to choose from. It seems that nearly every successful and established writer has written […]
Rest in Joy, Joan Didion
In Memoriam, A Review of The White Album Joan Didion, American novelist and essayist, passed away last week, at the age of 87. Her book, The White Album, was required reading for me to obtain my MFA in Creative Writing. One of my professors loved her work and spoke about it at length. I had […]
(Re)Write What You Know – A Twist on Writer’s Advice
A common bit of writing advice that you will find if you read books on writing or attend a writer’s conference is this: Write what you know. I’m not refuting that bit of advice in this post, but I do want to offer a little twist on the main idea. First of all, let’s discuss […]
NaNoWriMo: Are You Crazy Enough to Write 50K in 30 Days?
It’s the first day of NaNoWriMo, National Novel Writing Month. It’s also my husband’s birthday. This happens every year on November first, an extreme conflict of interests in my own life — my desire to do nothing but write, and the fact that life just gets in the way. Participating in NaNoWriMo means taking on […]
Working from Home — Is It for You?
Do you have a difficult time making decisions? I know I do. I’m somewhat of a perfectionist, so I like to know for sure something is the right path before I take it. The problem is, there’s often no way to know for sure. I read somewhere that you’ll never be more than 80% sure of any […]
Four Reasons to Write Short Stories
Photos can be poignant, powerful, or precious glimpses of a moment in time. Each one tells a story. And usually, the story is more than the caption you might see beneath the photo. Far more. There are photos that strike us with awe at the power of nature, like this one: Some photos strike us […]
Book Review of “Book Proposals That Sell” by W. Terry Whalin
I just read “Book Proposals That Sell” by W. Terry Whalin. And here’s the one-sentence review: If you are a writer – especially if you are a writer aspiring to be a traditionally published author one day – this book is extremely helpful and informative. And here’s the longer book review of Book Proposals That […]
Bonita Jewel 