I just returned from a trip to Colorado to visit my niece. One of the highlights of the trip was taking the Royal Gorge Route train ride based in Cañon City. Because this trip had been planned in advance, I decided to make it a writing exercise. I wanted to be intentional about using my … More Are Your Senses Turned On?
Writing prompts are used by students and writers alike to challenge their creativity and/or to improve writing skills. They can be presented in a variety of ways – phrases, questions, topics – the sky’s the limit. Their purpose is to present you with an idea or thought that you can expand upon, allowing you to … More A Different Kind of Writing Prompt
What do carpet beetles, Plato, and the diary of a politician from the 1600s all have in common? You can find all of them on the website Project Gutenberg for free. If you are unfamiliar with the website, buckle up—we are diving into the public domain! Project Gutenberg is a website that offers over 60,000 … More Use Project Gutenberg for Research
I loved field trips when I was in elementary and high school. Sure, sitting for a stretch of time in a stinky school bus wasn’t the best, especially when you hit those winding roads, but I loved the chance to get out of the classroom and actually see what we were learning about. As writers, … More Field Trips 101
We have all gotten upset with an author for killing off the main character, but as writers, we know the author has a more difficult time doing the deed than the reader has reading about it. The author, as the creator of that character, is more invested in their well-being than any outsider ever could … More Killing the Eagle by Erin Greneaux
Melanie Dickerson’s novels are usually adaptions of fairy tales such as “Beauty and the Beast” and “The Little Mermaid,” and Veil of Winter is no exception. It is part of a new series, Dericott Tales, which Dickerson began after completing her intriguing Hagenheim series. … More Veil of Winter: A Book Review by Kathryn Dover
Stories grow from key elements: Setting, character, inciting incident, rising action, climax, surprise, conclusion. … More Stories Grow from Key Elements by Guest Blogger, Dawn Stephens
The Lost Bard of Taliyaven by Helena S. George is a Christian fantasy novel that follows the story of Masha, a villager who is forced to flee her hometown when a neighboring country invades. … More The Lost Bard of Taliyaven: A Book Review by Kathryn Dover
Jean Fritz. If you know her work, you’ll be smiling at the mere mention of her name. Her humor has wooed and wowed millions of kids into learning American history. I want to be her when (if) I grow up. See that book below? You can get it for $1.49—what are you waiting for? Didn’t … More How to Get $1.49’s Worth of Writing Advice
“The secret to editing your work is simple: you need to become its reader instead of its writer.”–Zadie Smith Write2Ignite’s 2020 Master class with Joyce Moyer Hostetter is only a month away. The Write2Ignite team has suggested checking out several chapters of Self-Editing for Fiction Writers by Renni Browne and Dave King as a way … More 3 Tips from “Self-Editing for Fiction Writers” by Karley Conklin