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All Downhill From Here: Story Structure in Act 2, Part 2

This blog is late. It’s late because I made the silly mistake of promising in my last post in this series that the next part would come “next week” i.e. the second half of November. Well, that didn’t happen, for a variety of reasons including getting behind on NaNoWriMo, exciting new health issues, and getting…

Stuck in the Middle With You: Story Structure in Act II

There’s no denying that storytelling can get messy in the middle. The middle of a novel may sag or slump, prone to descriptions like soggy, mushy, murky, or muddy. These damp and sticky terms reflect an experience familiar to many a writer. The often arduous process of drafting a story’s second act may feel a…

Setting the Stage for Story: Structuring the First Act

All you need to write a story is a beginning, a middle, and an end. The three-act structure sounds simple enough. It’s a classic, literally, originating with the theories of Aristotle and still central to much of the structural writing advice that floats around today. But drilling down into exactly how each act should work—and…

Tips, Tricks, and Tools for NaNoWriMo Fast Drafting

It’s the most wonderful time of the year! Welcome to the wild winter word marathon known as National Novel Writing Month. Over the next thirty days, thousands of ambitious writers will churn out 50,000 words apiece to earn nothing but bragging rights, a hearty case of sleep deprivation, and hopefully part of a messy first…

Feeds Don’t Nourish Me: Social Media and Creativity

Social media is overrated for creators. There, I said it. Surprised to hear this from me? I am too, a bit. I spent the last year or so learning how to use social media to promote my books, even sharing a few how-to posts here. Lately, though, I’ve done a lot of reflection on my…

Refilling the Wellspring: 7 Remedies for Creative Drain

Creativity is a renewable resource—but that doesn’t mean that it’s inexhaustible. Without sustainable use, the creative well tends to run dry, resulting in burnout or writer’s block. This post will address the need to maintain your creative reserves and suggest some ways to refill the well when you’re feeling drained, blocked, or out of ideas.…

Writers, We Need to Talk About Creative Burnout

This summer, I burned out. I touched on this in my post last week with a few brief paragraphs about why I’d disappeared from most of my online platforms. Part of me wanted to leave it at that, but even as I kept my personal update short, I knew I had more to say. After…

Writer in Motion 2022 Is Here and I’m Baaack (Kind of)

It’s been about two months since I wrote my last blog post here. Happy Fall, everyone! What happened? Well, I took an unplanned but necessary hiatus. In my last couple posts, I mentioned I had a sense of incipient burnout on the writing front. At the same time, I feared that taking a break would…

Cover Wars, Baby’s First Podcast, and a Brief Rant

Hi there! Coming in a bit late this morning with some announcements and a short grumble. Cambion’s Blood is competing in Cover Wars this week! The gorgeous cover of Cambion’s Blood is featured in Author Shout’s Cover Wars this week. You can vote for beautiful demon women carrying swords here. The winning cover will become…

Make Creative Space: Shifting Gears to Slow My Roll

Hi, my name is Erin, and I’m bad at taking breaks. Notoriously bad at it. I am anything but a role model for self-care, no matter how many posts I write about it, trying to convince myself otherwise. Exhibit 1: I am about to write a blog post about how I’m giving myself a break…

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