Tag: Stuff for Writers
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Point of View (Podcast Episode #5)
I’m super excited to be back with another podcast. In this one, I chat about why I write in deep third point of view and how I choose characters for each scene. I hope you enjoy it! Links mentioned in this one: A Study of Ash & Smoke purchase links: https://yolandiehorak.com/books/a-study-of-ash-smoke A Trial of Sparks […]
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Let’s Write PTSD
I touched a slight bit on PTSD in the Let’s Write Fear post, but I figure this is a complex emotional state and needs more detail. Of course, I’m not a mental health professional, just a writer, so this is in no way aimed to be an educational post for someone in the clutches of […]
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On Perspective
Just the other day, my fellow blogger and author, SM Mitchell, asked me for my thoughts on impostor syndrome for a blog post. This is the quote she included from yours truly: “No critic can tell you how much is wrong with what I’ve written better than I can. It’s so hard for me to […]
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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 […]
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Let’s Write – Basics of Self-Editing
Something about the editing process has always intrigued me, and I’ve wanted to take an editing course or two for ages. Yet, I’ve always had an excuse why not to take that course. I sent off A Trial of Sparks & Kindling to my editor at the end of September, which meant I had nothing […]
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Major Character Death
I’ve recently read a few books where major characters died–and I’m talking viewpoint or main cast characters–only to be resurrected. Then, you know, they all live happily ever after. When this dead-but-resurrected-thing happened the first time, I was annoyed but okay. My mood elevated to disgruntled by the second time, then shot into the orbit […]
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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 […]
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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 […]
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Strong Female Characters
There’s this thing all around the internet. Advice paired with a general outcry–write strong female characters. I’ve had multiple conversations about this in the last few weeks, and I thought we could continue chatting about it here. People want Strong Female Characters (from here on SFC) to the point where they come down really hard […]
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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 […]
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Travel in Writing
Quick fact – the average horse and the average person travel about the same distance per day. As in, giving your hero a horse may not actually bring them to the epic battle faster than they’d have gotten there on foot. No, I didn’t make that up. Hollywood, gaming houses, and other media tell us […]
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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 […]
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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 […]
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Let’s Write Excitement and Nerves
Welcome to part three of the Writing Emotions series! You can check out the others here, and come back in two weeks for the next part. Today we’re chatting about nervousness and excitement. Since these amount to the same thing in terms of body language, I figured I’d group them. Of course, there are some […]
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Let’s Write Sadness
Picking up from where we left off, we’re talking about sadness or grief today. The topic was suggested to me by someone in the writing group I belong to on Facebook. Love was also suggested and I’ll definitely delve into that one, but I think it might need to be spread over more than one […]
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Let’s Write Anger
Friends. Writing is difficult. Especially emotions, which are the slightest bit important to make your characters come alive. At first, you really try to have your cast do interesting things, show interesting body language and have interesting expressions. But then, you slip into that easy repetition. He gave a look. She nodded. They shrugged. Or […]