Stuck? Discouraged? Archives

How a Map Can Save Your Story

September 4, 2014
Staff Writer
Push Your Imagination, Stuck? Discouraged?, The Writing Life, World building, Writing Tips and Tools
12 Comments

Tineke Bryson, Staff Writer In last week’s post we tackled the intimidation many of us feel about creating a map for our novels. (Thanks, no thanks, J. R. R. Tolkien.) This week we focus on why we can’t afford to give up the dream or hand off the project to someone else.

Do What Tolkien Did (But Not What You Think He Did)

August 21, 2014
Staff Writer
Push Your Imagination, Stuck? Discouraged?, The Writing Life, World building, Writing Tips and Tools
17 Comments

Tineke Bryson, Staff Writer Some thoughts on why we writers are often intimidated by fantasy maps

Why You Should Write Bad Novels

July 18, 2014
Student Contributor
Stuck? Discouraged?, The Writing Life, Writing Tips and Tools
3 Comments

Kathryn Comstock, Guest Contributor I recently finished my fifth novel, #754. So far, this one is the best developed. The public will likely never see the novels that came before #754, however, I learned many valuable lessons from those novels that show in my writing today.

Writing for the Smaller Audience

Angie Fraser, Guest Contributor Thanks to the teaching in The One Year Adventure Novel (OYAN), I have now written two novels. I suspect that my work will never be published in the traditional sense. Despite my best efforts, I use far too many adverbs, adjectives, clichés, and passive sentence constructions. My plots and characters aren’t particularly original. I’m too preachy. I could go on. Does that mean that my writing can never be used for God’s purposes?

Why the Glamour of Writing Doesn’t Make Rejection Any Easier

May 15, 2014
Staff Writer
Stuck? Discouraged?, The Writing Life, Writing Tips and Tools
16 Comments

Rachel Garner, Staff Writer I’m here to tell you something you probably haven’t heard before: writers aren’t special. I know, I know, this is a scandalous idea to those who proudly label themselves “crazy” and generally think a fashion trend towards armor and steampunk goggles is the best idea they’ve ever heard. Let me tell you two stories.