Nudging the creative side

by | Oct 1, 2019 | Uncategorized

Do you ever get stuck in your story? You need a word to describe a setting or an emotion, or you want to explore options for a conflict or twist. I use two techniques when I need to nudge my creative side: mapping and listing. Mapping can take many different forms but...

Pantster vs Plotter vs Plotser

by | Sep 17, 2019 | Uncategorized

I’m one of those hypbrid writers. Because of my background in analytical chemistry, I love a solid plan to accomplish a task. A + B = C. While it has its benefits in my career it’s not always great for my creative side. Without a plan, I freeze up. Research ad...

Tropes

by | Aug 12, 2019 | Uncategorized

I have a confession to make: for many, many years I did not understand what was meant by the word trope. I started writing long before Google could answer all our questions, or Alexa or Siri would provide information on topics we never considered asking about before...

Speak to the dragon

by | Jul 21, 2019 | Uncategorized

I went on a writer’s retreat recently. Nothing fancy or organized; just me and another writer friend hold up in a nice cabin in the mountains with nothing to distract us but a lot of trees, the view and a hot tub. Since it’s July the hot tub wasn’t all that...