By DiAnn Mills @DiAnnMills Every writer has a story. Some of the behind-the-scenes events strike a gallant pose of purpose, education, and inspiration, while others are mediocre in the laborious uphill climb to the city on the hill called Publishville. If I’d majored in creative writing in college and earned…

by Sandy Kirby Quandt @SandyKQuandt As writers, when the writing way is steep in front of us and the challenge hard, do we concentrate on the incline of creating, believing it insurmountable, or do we keep putting one foot in front of the other, conquering the mountain one step at…

By Bethany Jett, @BetJett Show, Don't Tell Arguably, this is one of the biggest sins of a writer, and yet it’s so easy to slip into what I call “tattle-tale mode.” Is the reader experiencing the story, or are they listening to me rattle on the details like my seven-year-old…

By Vincent B. Davis II, @vbdavisii "For all have sinned and fallen short of editorial perfection." This is one of my favorite quotes from Stephen King's On Writing. Isn't it true? No matter how hard we may try to correct, edit, and rewrite our manuscript, there is always something left…

By Penny Reeve Do you know the most important characteristic of a writer?  Yes, that’s correct. They write.  Without writing there is no book, no poem, no blog, no review, no article, no story. Writers need to write, it’s what we do. It’s our craft, our skill, our work and…

by Cindy K. Sproles @CindyDevoted Editing is difficult. Especially when you’ve worked hard to pen the perfect words. It’s tough to look at a scene or a paragraph and come to the realization that it needs to go. I’ve found this is especially difficult for new writers. Once they get…