by Edie Melson @EdieMelson I remember the first time I ventured onto twitter. It’s an intimidating site, full of unfamiliar terms and strange rules. Beyond that, the more people I followed, the more confusing the newsfeed became. To my untrained eye, all those 140 character bursts were just disjointed and…

By DiAnn Mills @DiAnnMills Welcome to Part II of SOS - Settings on Steroids. A character who lives in the setting will not make the same observations as a visitor. A seasoned character's emtions are different from a novice in a specific environment. The seven universal emotions, according to Tonya…

by Alycia W. Morales     @AlyciaMorales When we think about writing, puppies aren't necessarily the first things that come to mind. Unless they're the characters in a children's book. Or their name is Marley. But really... [tweet_box design="default" float="none" inject="#BRMCWC #amwriting"]How is writing like whelping puppies?[/tweet_box] Anticipation Cinnamon, my dog, was…

by Bethany Jett, @BetJett There is a lot of excellent writing advice. Honestly, I could spend hours curled up on the couch scrolling through agents’ blogs, websites on writing tips, and scanning Pinterest pins on the subject. But there are two “writing” tips that have the ability to either help you excel…

By DiAnn Mills @DiAnnMills Ah, setting, the frail stepchild of fiction. How often we neglect this vital member of story, insisting character, plot, dialogue, and emotion are much more important. We dress her in rags, have her clean the chimney, then criticize her for lack of beauty. Setting is the…

by Edie Melson @EdieMelson Publishing is a tough business. It’s almost impossible to write anything for public consumption without feeling like you’re throwing your heart into the lion’s den. And I don’t know about you, but I give these negative comments a lot more credibility than the positive ones. The…