Tag: Better Writing

• Let’s Write – Common Mistakes

  

  Welcome back to another post in our self-editing miniseries. It’s been a hot minute since we last talked about this, so if you want to catch up on the first three posts, here are the links. The Basics of Self-Editing The Structural Edit (pt 1) The Structural Edit (pt 2) Today, we’re going to have […]

  Yolandie Horak

  21st January 2020

  Writing

  Better Writing, Cliches, Common Writing Mistakes, Dictionary Writing, Intensifiers, Let’s Write, Modifiers, Pet Phrases, Resources, Self-Editing, Simple Verbs, Stuff for Writers, Weak Sentence Construction, Weasel Words, Writer, Writer’s Life, Writers’ Resources, Writing Community, Writing Life

• Let’s Write – The Structural Edit

  

  Welcome back to the self-editing miniseries. 🙂 It’s good to have you. Last time, we summarised the self-edit. Feel free to check that out if you want to brush up first. In the next two posts, we’ll be looking in-depth at the first big part of the self-edit–structural editing. (Quick note. I wanted to keep […]

  Yolandie Horak

  29th October 2019

  Writing

  Basic Self-Editing, Better Writing, Edit, Editing, How To, How To Self-Edit, Indie Authors, Indie Writers, Let’s Write, Self-Editing, Structural Editing, Stuff for Writers, Writer, Writer’s Life, Writers’ Resources, Writing, Writing Advice

• On Writing Advice

  

  The internet. A place of abundance. You can learn almost anything on YouTube or blogs. Unfortunately, many of these instructional sites will just as easily help you fail as help you learn. Others won’t set you up for failure, sure, but your growth process can still be stunted by bad advice. Which brings us to […]

  Yolandie Horak

  6th March 2019

  Writing

  Better Writing, Stuff for Writers, Writer, Writer’s Life, Writers’ Resources, Writing, Writing Advice

• On Tropes

  

  Ah, tropes. The building blocks of all the stories ever crafted. What’s a trope? Well, those themes and elements we find over and over in novels, movies, games, series. For example, a princess with a mean stepmother. A cop who joined the force because their father was killed in the line of duty. A fairy […]

  Yolandie Horak

  13th February 2019

  Writing

  Better Writing, Stuff for Writers, tropes, Tropes we hate, Tropes we love, Writer, Writer’s Life, Writing, Writing Advice, Writing Tips

• Let’s Write Confidence

  

  It’s so good to be back in the swing of things with a writing post, especially one that adds to the Let’s Write Series. Now, I see you doing a double take there. Didn’t this used to be called the writing emotions series? It did, but then I had so many ideas to add to […]

  Yolandie Horak

  15th January 2019

  Writing

  Better Writing, Confidence, Let’s Write, Resources, Stuff for Writers, Writer, Writers’ Resources, Writing, Writing Confidence

• My Novel Planning Journey

  

  It’s Preptober! I’m not participating in Nanowrimo, but I figured this post was long overdue anyway and could be relevant to those of you preparing for Nano. If you’re wondering about my previous Nanowrimo experience, I wrote a little piece on the Sophie Melissa Blog. She also asked some other authors for their ideas and […]

  Yolandie Horak

  3rd October 2018

  Writing

  Better Writing, Novels, Pantser, Planning, Writer, Writer’s Life, Writing, Writing Advice, Writing Journey, Writing Process

• Let’s Write Joy

  

  If you’re here for the first time, I’ve been writing a series of posts on the body language of various emotions, so authors have a quick reference when they get stuck writing diverse characters. It’s so easy to fall into the same old repetitive action tags. I can’t tell you how many times I used […]

  Yolandie Horak

  1st August 2018

  Writing

  Better Writing, Emotions, Joy, Let’s Write, Resources, Stuff for Writers, Writer, Writer’s Life, Writers’ Resources, Writing, Writing Emotions, Writing Joy

• Let’s Write Fear

  

  From a fright when the spider lands on your arm, to being scared of the weird guy on the blind date, to full-blown terror when a dragon sticks its head out of the cave and you left your sword at home, fear is one of the most complex emotions that we’ve all had to deal […]

  Yolandie Horak

  4th July 2018

  Writing

  Anxiety, Better Writing, Emotions, Fear, Let’s Write, Resources, Stuff for Writers, Writer, Writer’s Life, Writers’ Resources, Writing, Writing Emotions, Writing Fear

• Neekerbreekers

  

  I love Tolkien. I’ve loved his work since I first discovered his stories when I was about fourteen. After that first time I broke the spine of The Fellowship of the Ring, I’ve read LOTR every year (sometimes more than once a year) until around 2013 when Kayla was born. Which reminds me, you know. […]

  Yolandie Horak

  29th November 2017

  Writing

  A Study of Ash & Smoke, Author, Better Writing, Neekerbreekers, Opinions, The Physician’s Apprentice, Tolkien, Writer, Writer’s Life, Writers’ Resources, Writing, Writing Advice, Writing Tips, Yolandie Writes

• To Say or Not to Say

  

  So you’re a writer. Welcome to the club, please pick your t-shirt from the pile and have a seat. You’ve probably been around the interwebs and have no doubt found an article or two on the topic of said. You know, dialogue tags. There are two firm groups of thought here. Okay, okay – two […]

  Yolandie Horak

  22nd September 2017

  Writing

  Better Dialogue, Better Writing, Dialogue Tags, Invisible Words, Is Said Dead?, Said, Said Is Dead, Said Isn’t Dead, Writer, Writer’s Life, Writers’ Resources, Writing, Writing Advice

• Three Steps to Deep Point of View

  

  I’m by no means an expert on the topic, just a noob who’s learned a thing or two from writers much more experienced than me, willing to share their knowledge. These are three little things any writer could use to hone their craft – some so obvious, it’s blinding. Who felt like an idiot after […]

  Yolandie Horak

  16th August 2017

  Writing

  A Study of Ash & Smoke, Better Writing, Common Nouns, Deep Point of View, Filter Words, Flash Fic, Flash Fiction, How To, Noob Writers, Passive Voice, Point of View, POV, Proper Nouns, The Physician’s Apprentice, Writer, Writer’s Life, Writers’ Resources, Writing, Writing Advice

• My Writing Process

  

  Writing about writing is tricky. People will often try to sell their way as the only way, but no art is as black and white as that. I’m not talking about the rules of grammar and style, I’ve seen firsthand how those will make or break a novel. Leave out the rules, and your story […]

  Yolandie Horak

  12th July 2017

  Writing

  A Study of Ash & Smoke, Better Writing, Featured, Personal, The Physician’s Apprentice, Writer, Writer’s Life, Writers’ Resources, Writing, Writing Process, Yolandie Writes

• Writing, as Taught by Kids’ TV Shows

  

  A year or so ago, I read a writing exercise idea on a blog that changed the way I view watching TV. The blogger in question would make notes of, then dissect the episode she was watching. She’d figure out which plot points worked, which didn’t, where the dialogue fell flat, where it rocked, and […]

  Yolandie Horak

  28th June 2017

  Writing

  Better Dialogue, Better Writing, Character Development, Creativity, Foreshadowing, Learning Something New, My Little Pony, Series, Suits, TV, Typeface, Writer, Writer’s Life, Writing, Writing Advice