by Blythe Daniel @ByltheDaniel I was in journalism class in college and remember my professor saying in red ink, “What’s the hook to draw in your reader”? Headlines were the prize I was aiming for. Sadly it felt like that was harder to nail down than the story. Today, I…

by Maureen Miller Creds—(n.) an abbreviation meaning credibility; also referring to authenticity. I’m a collector. There. I said it. Whether seashells that hold special meaning or unique stones I find and set in my garden, I enjoy collecting. But unlike the accumulation of this-or-that, much for one’s own pleasure, for…

by Heather Kreke @HKreke One of the most common questions authors get asked is why do you write. While the answer to this question is as varied as the author who holds it, it is an important question that every writer should ask themselves. Most of the time writing is…

By Darlene L. Turner @darlenelturner Voice and style can make or break an author’s novel, so how can we make it stand out from all the rest? Style is the technical aspect of the story while voice relies on character, point of view, and attitude (can be referred to as tone).…

by Edie Melson @EdieMelson I began writing like most of you did—as a creative outlet—a way to process the world around me. I kept diaries, started stories and books, played around with articles. But all of these efforts had one thing in common. They were written out of my own…

by Cindy Sproles @CindyDevoted We've all been a new writer at one time or another. None of us jump right into the writing world footloose and fancy-free. There is always a learning curve. It's important to know that you will always bump into writing issues whether you are a new…