In our daily lives, we’re all about doing whatever we can to decrease tension. But when it comes to the lives of our fictional characters, we have to be willing …
Using Body Language to Write Stronger Characters
Sometimes I look up from writing a scene at my computer and my family is watching me. One or two of them look concerned. Another one is muffling laughter behind …
Scene Equation: How to Start a Scene
When you unpack a novel, it is nothing more – and nothing less – than a series of scenes strung together. String the scenes together in the proper order – …
Can you write a book in a month? How to accept the NaNoWriMo Challenge?
Can you write a book in a month? YES! We had a conversation about this last Thursday during the MBT OPEN HOUSE webinar. Writing a book in a month is …
When an Author’s Backstory Sparks a Story Idea
At the very first My Book Therapy (MBT) Storycrafters Retreat in 2010, Susie May Warren had the attendees complete a seemingly simple – and insignificant – exercise on page nine of our workbooks.
I kept that workbook, the one with the working title of my manuscript scribbled inside the front cover: Wish You Were Here. Thanks to that weekend and how it changed my life and my writing, Wish You Were Here became a “real book” in 2012.
And I refer back to that seemingly insignificant exercise on page nine time and time again.