Last week, I participated in J. A. Allen‘s Sunday Scribble Challenge, wherein we write a brief entry in response to a prompt. This was last week’s prompt: Two sentences isn’t much space, unless you write a bunch of clauses with commas, and those aren’t my style. So I had to rely on something else to…
I recently had the privilege of guest posting for the lovely, talented, and funny Sarah E. Boucher on the topic of quit days. Since I’m not able to reblog directly, she’s allowed me to paste the post onto my own blog. Click here to see the original post and on her name to head to her…
This morning, I taught the third grade class in the kids’ area of my church. The lesson was about Biblical figures who persevered through difficult circumstances and those who encouraged them along the way. To go along with that, we completed a seriously cool project with the main point being this: when times get tough,…
I saw this video on Facebook. It’s amazing, so watch it. If you scrolled without watching, allow me to summarize: many popular songs were written using the same four-chord progression. These guys crammed thirty-six (or so, I lost count) song snippets into five minutes without changing the four-chord structure. The transitions are seamless. They cross genres, including…
Everyone knows we feel better overall if we eat healthy foods and exercise. Or as Chuck Wendig said somewhere, we would do well to treat ourselves better than we would treat a bathroom at Wendy’s. Turns out there’s a reason for that advice. I’ve been admittedly lazy the past several months. For a little while I was…
One of the Great Truths in the Writer’s Bible is this: the cover can make or break the success of your book. Doesn’t matter how good the stuff inside is. If the cover isn’t intriguing (or worse, if it’s deterring), if it doesn’t compel the potential reader to buy/borrow, it hasn’t done its job. Period. Since…
Don’t worry, this post is still approved for general audiences. Though if you’re looking for the more adult definition, this is the interwebs. Just don’t be gone too long, because that might not help your career advancement. Anyway. This post is about writers who make it, the ones who find the magical combination of timing…
As I scrolled through my blog reader last night, I stumbled across a simple pic post on Pearls Before Swine. I loved it so much I stole the title (hope you don’t mind, Yecheilyah). Go check out her blog as a thank you. Below is the pic from the post. It gave me one of those whoa…
Today’s post comes courtesy of the lovely and talented Cathleen Townsend, who offers some insight into what she sees when she wears her critique-ing hat. Take it away, Cathleen! ***** Allison suggested a guest post on critiquing, and I’ve actually been thinking about it for some time. I could simply give you a checklist, but…
Yesterday, I read this great article by Nat Russo about how important it is for writers to master the craft before we start defending our style. Click on his name to read the whole thing (which I recommend), but here’s a chunk of it: You’ve heard people do this. When you offer constructive criticism, they’ll…
Allison Maruska 