MetroWest Writers’ Guild Workshop: How Internal Tension Moves Your Characters

Miss my tension workshop last Spring? I’m thrilled to announce I’ll be doing another one in April! This one for MetroWest Writers’ Guild. Join us! I’d love to see you there!

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Learning to Ask for Help with Writing

For years, I had this terrible tendency NOT to ask for help, as if someone else helping me meant the story was any less mine. As if acknowledgment lists in books weren’t basically short stories. But I saw that the other members of my writing group were so much better about asking for help, and […]

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Questions for Identifying Reoccurring Motifs and Strengths

We talk all the time about how to shore up our weaknesses. That’s basically what getting a critique is all about! And it’s super useful. But not having huge weaknesses is just what makes a book acceptable. What makes a book brilliant is its strengths. So how can you learn to make your crazy diamonds […]

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Tied Up in Strings: How Internal Tension Moves Your Character

Imagine for a moment everything your character cares about—Love, Friendship, Family, Country, Ideals, Religion, Tradition, Self, and Things More Specific—as a string, wrapped around your character. The more your character cares about that thing, the tighter that string is pulled—the more tension on the line. The more strings? The more interesting it gets.   Tension […]

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