It took two ridiculously long posts to cover all the fun of ReaderCon 2018, but I gotta say, I had an incredible time. If you’re a fan of science fiction and fantasy stories, you have to get to ReaderCon. You won’t be disappointed.
I went for three days without seeing the sun. Not best practice in terms of health, but it tells you something about how busy I was at ReaderCon this past weekend. Quick disclaimer: This is going to be a long post, as will be the part 2 follow-up. I’m trying to paint a clear picture …
If you’ve ever watched an Olympic sporting event like the floor routine in gymnastics, you might have seen shots of athletes preparing to compete. They stand to the side, eyes closed, twisting their bodies around in odd ways. You know what they’re doing. They’re envisioning their routine, imagining the jumps, the turns, the tucks. The same thing happening to those athlete’s brains as they pre-visualize their routines occurs inside readers’ minds when they read. Provided, that is, an author uses a few key neuroscience tricks when they write.
I did it. I graduated. I am a creative writing “master,” which is a little weird to write. The title “novice” would probably be more accurate. But, two days out from having received my handshake and diploma (not really, just a certificate. The diploma will arrive in the mail a month from now), I am feeling most grateful for the people I met and the relationships I forged.
Regardless of the quality of the actual story being told, the writing can either engage us or bore us. Understanding the neuroscience of reading can help you grab readers by the brain and engage them more effectively.
It’s been said, names have power, and an evocative title is step one toward hooking your readers. Yet many of us spend little time giving thoughtful consideration to either. Do yourself a favor and steer clear of the online name generators. Here’s a better way to approach naming your characters and titling your story.
Countless talented artists wander into the creative forest with good intentions and never make it out again. They get lost, hit that moment of doubt and despair, give up, and die. The thing is, getting lost is a hazard of living a creative life. In some ways, getting lost really is inevitable, because the creative path is not well-travelled. I’d argue that if you’re doing things right as an artist, you’re blazing a new trail through the deepest, darkest woods of your own psyche.
There are a gazillion writing apps and programs out there in the digital world, some that cost money and some that are free. Of them all, I’ve tried a handful. However, after two years in grad school, chasing the dream of getting an MFA in creative writing, I’ve come to rely heavily on one in particular: …
This month’s IWSG post asks the question: What do you love about the genre you write in most often? Books for adults are all well and good, but books for children are far more important.
Every morning, I wake up, get the coffee beans ground, get the water heating, and then I sit down and write for an hour. At the end of that session, I check my “session target” bar in Scrivener, and a satisfied warmth suffuses my brain. I’ve discovered a couple of things about writing first thing …