There are writing prompts all over the Internet that you can choose from. I’ve used several of them myself. It recently dawned on me that I always picked prompts that sparked my interest. This is not a bad thing but it really doesn’t force you to exercise a true creative spark.
I’ve recently been picking random writing prompts; I simply close my eyes and point. Whichever prompt my finger lands on is the one I use–even if I don’t like it or think there’s no way I can get into a …

Stories generally begin with either a plot or a character. Some writers come up with a great plot before they start working on a character. Most writers, however, begin with a character and then follow him/her through the plot. They use a lot of “what if” scenarios. Either way, you can’t have one without the other; building a great, solid character is one of, if not, the most important aspects of a good story.
There are many ways to build characters and each writer develops his/her own style and process for …

Writing strong narrative is a difficult task even for seasoned writers. They know to use strong verbs and to cut out the clutter and material that isn’t necessary, but do they follow any certain rules for doing this? I’m sure each writer has their own set of guidelines for writing good narrative and you will device your own set of rules as you become more practiced in your craft, but here are a few guidelines to help you get started.
As a writer you already know you’re a storyteller, this is …

before it’s time.
I was just reading some tips on writing about editing your work.  This struck a chord with me because in the past I was extremely guilty of this.  I’m still guilty of this at times, but for the most part I have overcome this hindrance in my writing.  Yes, editing before it’s time is a hindrance to your writing.  You aren’t writing if you’re busy editing.
The tip I was reading simply stated:  Write when it’s time to write, edit when it’s time to edit.
Of course the tip as …

So you’ve decided to become a writer.  Welcome to the hardest “easy” job on the planet.  Or you’ve written a book and you’re ready to start submitting your work of art to publishers.  Are you ready for rejection?  It’s a sad reality we all must face and in the beginning of your writing career it can be very heart breaking. But, you will get rejected.  Expect it.  According to some of the greatest and most well known authors on the planet, if you’re lucky, you’ll get hundreds of rejections.
Why would …

When writing we need to have a clear point of view and we must remain consistent with the point of view we’ve chosen to use.
For many writers using first person point of view comes natural and for others they find third person to be more natural.
When you write in third person you become the narrator and tell the story as it happens.  Writing in first person means that you write from your perspective as a character in the story.
Writing in first person doesn’t have to be from the main …

Part of the writing process is editing. Most of us find this stage of writing to be the least favorite, but it is necessary to make sure we’ve done our best, find and correct mistakes, and polish up anything that’s out of place.
Today we’re going to cover a simple checklist you can use to make sure you’ve covered everything in the editing process. This checklist is by no means, set in stone, and you may have your own system.

Editing Checklist:
* Check your sentences for errors in grammar and usage.
* Are …

I’ve been working on a post for this blog; it had a certain direction, but I’ve recently done some reading at other blogs that made me change the end scope of today’s post or ties into the end scope of this post.
Michael at DailyWritingTips.com did a post, Ruining Your Writing by Cheap Blogging.  It had some very good points in it and I’d light to highlight them before I get to my post for today.
Michael states:
What ruined my writing ability was placing money and productivity higher than integrity and honor. …