Today we’re resurrecting an older post by popular demand. We archive most posts after 3-4 years, because the publishing world moves fast and what might be accurate today is completely off the mark tomorrow. Because time is short, we bulk-archive, meaning we hide all of the posts either by date or the category and sometimes
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Adverbs and Proper Use
July blog prompts have arrived. If you are wondering how these happen, Mod R combs your comments and questions you send in and then compiles them for each month. You have very unique comparisons and metaphors when you write descriptions. Are they just things you come up with naturally, or do you have helping tools
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Writing What You Hate
You guys say the key to being an author is to love the grind. And while I love writing I have a hard time getting to the finish line. I usually hop around to new projects leaving half finished worlds behind in my wake like a serial world killer. I recently challenged myself to just
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Hours and Hours
In any number of careers you would need to take training courses or maintain qualifications. As writers, have you done anything more formal, after university, to hone your talent or is there something you plan/want to do in the future? Anything you found really helpful? Aside from just putting in the hours and hours actually
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How do you explain the magic of the world?
Yesterday I had to go to jury duty. I knew I wasn’t going to get picked when the defense attorney told a story about trying to bake an apple pie in college. The pie didn’t turn out because he forgot to put shortening in it. Then he said, “DNA is like an apple pie. You
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Passive Voice
Could you explain the passive voice to me?” J. Let’s make this short and sweet. In an active sentence the subject acts; in a passive sentence the subject is being acted upon. Why do people advise against using passive voice. vs The second example is clearer, faster, and reads better. When should you use passive
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Fights and banter
We’ve had a stressful couple of weeks trying to navigate through my father’s visit and trying to save one of our dog’s eye from infection while feverishly editing and writing. Sorry for no new posts. I’m trying something new, for me at least. Okay I’ve got this fight scene where 8 different fights are happening
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Hybrid Authors
First things first: if you want the collector edition of Kinsmen from Subterranean, it’s on sale now for $37.50, 50% off. Click this link, scroll down to the bottom of the page, and it will be the 8th title up. Thank you to Aarya for heads up. Quick update on SWEEP OF THE BLADE: thank
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Should You Have a Webpage
Today’s question comes from H., who is just starting out on a path to publication: As an unpublished author, should I start an author webpage?Should I share snippets of my story on my social media? I’m very nervous about putting my work out there, but I also know I’m never going to get anywhere if
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Writing Process Rambling
I had a spat with my husband yesterday. When we just started out, we would blast through the first draft as fast as we could and then do extensive rewrites. Now we have some experience, and a curious thing happens: we both know when the scene doesn’t work. Instead of realizing it later, in rewrites,
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Writing Questions: Research
what are your primary forms of research? To be specific, do you look at scientific journals, speak with people who specialize in the field, watch videos, etc? And if you go for that personal meeting with a person, how do you approach them (through email? Setup face to face meetings)? Are people in a university
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Writing Questions: Ideas and Reviews
Do you ever read someone else’s stuff and think “oh Kate would have done it this way” or then think “I could have done that better?” – then fight yourself not to use the idea? I never want to borrow someone else’s idea but sometimes what is in a story is similar to what I
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