Training Your Writer’s Voice to Come Out to Play
A writer’s voice is his or her fingerprint on a piece of work. It’s like DNA when it’s authentic. How do you define and develop your writer’s voice? Read on!
How Does It All End?
Share on facebook Facebook Share on twitter Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > Talking about how to end a book or story is a bit harder than talking about how to begin one. The first paragraph of a book doesn’t really count as a spoiler…
Comma Long With Me and Celebrate Punctuation Day | IFW
Facebook Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > It’s like they created a day just for folks like me, people who are (admittedly or not) obsessed with punctuation… proper punctuation and not-so-proper punctuation. As a professional proofreader and editor, Punctuation Day is especially dear to my…
When It All Starts to Sag
Share on facebook Facebook Share on twitter Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > Momentum is a delicate thing in writing. Sometimes you start out revving along in a novel, falling in love with your main character, fascinated by the situation you’re creating and cranking out…
Writers Make the Best Friends
Share on facebook Facebook Share on twitter Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > Writing can be a lonely art form. Unlike performance artists, you don’t have audience reaction to rev you up. And sometimes family and friends aren’t incredibly supportive, especially during the early years…
September’s a Month for Literary Celebrations | IFW
Facebook Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > This month we celebrate a hat trick of days of particular note: September 6th is Read A Book Day. September 7th is Buy A Book Day. September 8th is Literacy Day. Mark your calendars. And make it a…
Once Upon a Time
Share on facebook Facebook Share on twitter Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > Every story has a beginning. The best beginnings grab our attention and make us eager to read on. The best beginnings give a sense of sort of story we’re going to get…
Do All Novels Need to Be About Young People ? | IFW
Facebook Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > A look at 7 recent successful novels where the main protagonists were Middle-Aged In writing courses you’ll hear professors say things like, “It doesn’t matter the age of a character as long as they are well drawn and…
The Love of Genre
Do you love a good genre novel? Then you might be the perfect person to write one! Jan Fields shares what you need to know about writing genre novels for kids.
Weaving Pop Culture Into Your Writing
Facebook Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > Weaving Pop Culture Into Your Writing Pop culture – Why it’s so important in fiction today and how to weave it into your writing (without dating your work) As a journalist I’m sent a lot of novels and…
Opening Lines: The Most Important Part of Your Story | IFW
Facebook Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > A newspaper headline serves one purpose–to make you want to read the article beneath it. The opening sentence in a novel tries to do something similar. It should make you want to read the second sentence, which then…
Should I Contact This Publisher?
Share on facebook Facebook Share on twitter Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > As writers we can easily get caught up in the mode of looking for anyone who will accept us. This is especially true early on in our writing careers, but all publishers…
Behold the Spider
Share on facebook Facebook Share on twitter Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > I was recently at the Highlights Foundation and had the opportunity to read the guest book journal in my cabin. A couple of the guests talked about a large spider they cohabitated…
The Plot Arc
A successful plot generally follows an arc. What’s that arc look like and how can it help you unlock your story’s potential? Jan Fields explains all.
Trade Secrets: Which Ones Should We Keep?
Share on facebook Facebook Share on twitter Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > Recently I was watching a video where an artist was talking about “trade secrets” in art. He was recounting the times when he was just beginning in art and people would refuse…
Revise Your View of Revision
Share on facebook Facebook Share on twitter Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > Some writers love revision. In fact, for many, the rough draft is something to be rushed through to get to the real “fun,” the revision. I’m not one of those writers. I…
Tips and Tricks for Planning a Series
Share on facebook Facebook Share on twitter Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > As of today, I have created three original series and written for several others where I had a fairly free hand in shaping the series beyond the original concept. I’ve worked on…
5 Tips for Writing a Strong Synopsis | Institute for Writers
Share on facebook Facebook Share on twitter Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > For most writers, there are few things more reviled than writing a synopsis of a book manuscript or short story. What do you put in? What do you leave out? Why is…
Debbie Brown
Amethyst Eyes , RebirthJune 3, 2017
Time to Write
Share on facebook Facebook Share on twitter Twitter We teach our students how to write and get published! View our Course Catalog > I know folks who lament about not having time to write. They’d do it if they just had time. If they could quit work. If they didn’t have so much care-giving they…
