We all do things we know are bad for us. I drink too much coffee.  I love ice cream. I eat carbs.   These things I tend to do with full knowledge that they are, in fact, bad for me.  I don’t care. I do it anyway.
But what your writing? Have you developed bad habits in your writing?   One of my favorite websites, storyfix.com,  had a wonderful, humorous post on the very subject, so I thought I’d steal share that post with you.
Here’s a bit of the post followed by the …

Stacey Joy Netzel needed today off to deal with the craziness of life, but be sure to check in next month for her next post.  In the meantime, ladies (and gents), it’s time to show me yours.
No, I’m not getting frisky with you.  I am going to ask you to share, though.  Earlier, the topic of Alpha vs. Beta males came up with one of my fabulous CPs.   And because I have a google addiction, I decided to google the topic and see what I came up with. There has …

Happy Endings is thrilled to welcome Linda Epstein, writer and Submissions Manager for the McVeigh Agency back to our blog. Welcome, Linda!
LINDA EPSTEIN
I just recently completed the first draft of a novel that I’ve been working on for a few years. I’ve also been working at The McVeigh Agency for almost a year now, reading queries and manuscripts, writing reader reports, doing some editing. When I think about going through my own manuscript, writing the second draft, editing it, re-writing and otherwise working it over, I really get present to …

Ready for the final installment of THE GOLF SPACES, my Scene Checklist?
I’m going through every scene of my WIP with this checklist — and it appears to improve the writing by a level previous works took many revisions to reach. Maybe it will help you too.
We’ve previously discussed THE, GOLF and the SPA of SPACES. Today, we finish up with CES.
C: Conflict
This one is easy. Does the scene have an antagonist? Is the POV character opposed by something or someone? If not, you need to create conflict.
It doesn’t have to be hand-to-hand …

I know, I know! I said I was going to do SPACES today. But it turned out to be an incredibly long entry, even when I barely blitzed over a couple of the topics. So I’ve split the last word in half, and I’ll finish it next time.
This is the third installment of the Scene Checklist I call THE GOLF SPACES, a powerful tool for making sure each scene has all the elements of strong fiction.
In the first entry, we covered THE: Tension, Hyperbole and Emotional Shift. Last week, we discussed GOLF: Goal, Object, …

As I mentioned two weeks ago, I’ve started the first revision of a rough draft that I wrote from scene cards. I go over each scene with a checklist, to make sure all the elements of a strong scene are included.
When I’m finished, with rare exceptions, the scenes just sing. I think I’m leap-frogging over several revision passes by doing it this way.
I created an acronym to remember each element: THE GOLF SPACES, and I thought I’d share the tool with you. Last time, I covered THE: Tension, Hyperbole and …

We all want recognition for our work, of which, the ultimate goal is no doubt publication—with a second and third print run to cement our success.
But along the way to publication, there are other ways for a writer to evaluate their progress, and while we’ve discussed the benefits of critique partners and similar groups before on this blog, I thought today we could talk about the bene’s (and maybe not so bene’s) of writers contests.
The thing to remember about contests is that choosing which ones to enter should involve just …

I’m in the middle of my last big revision ( edit #umpteen-thousand-and-five) on East of Jesus. I examine every scene in detail, going down a checklist to make sure all the elements of a snappy scene are included.
As you know, I’m a big believer in writing in scenes. Scenes are the basic unit of fiction. I’m also a big proponent of using scene cards to make sure structure is built into each scene (and to ensure a solid story arc, but that’s not the focus here). In the past, though, I …

So, it’s May… and for most writers who spend any time visiting online blogs, you likely know that means it’s the month for Brenda Novak’s Online Auction for Diabetes Research.   During the month of May, this auction offers some incredible opportunities and items donated by a huge number of folks within (and without) the publishing industry.   If you haven’t been there before, hightail your behind over now to check out the items. I GUARANTEE you’ll find something to covet.
But since this is a writing focused blog, I’d like …

“How did that make you feel?” It’s a cliché to have your psychologist characters ask the question, but like all good clichés, it exists for a reason. Counselors do ask the question. Because it’s important.
Feelings are important — and even more so when writing fiction. But it’s not your emotions I’m talking about. It’s what your characters are feeling that matters. Characters’ emotions drive the story. They help the reader empathize with your character, understand the stakes, and want to keep turning pages.
But what emotion your characters feel is important …