Author Toolbox Blog Hop Post

10 Reasons Writers Are Definitely Creatures of the Night; Author Toolbox Post

We function best with comfy, secluded, darkened spaces. In a house, there was a writing cave. Inside that writing cave, there was a desk. At that desk, there was an author and an empty notebook. Under that desk, there was a blanket fort, and in that blanket fort there was . . . a writer’s block. See? It just works. 2. Random screams into the void have high probability. Also we’ll hiss at our Word program, to assert dominance, after…

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How to Support Diverse Books and BIPOC Writers: Author Toolbox

After the Black Lives Matter protests have died down, when local law enforcement has been restructured and defunded, as June Pride Month slides over into July, we will still be holding vigil and working to create change. As writers, we have a lot of options and a lot more power than we might think. Words seem fragile, but we know words can turn potentiality into reality. Words can build or break, tear down or repair, halt all forward motion or…

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An Incendiary Inciting Incident for Your Author Toolbox

This is an Author Toolbox post. The toolbox is a free, monthly, open sharing of information between authors here on the Wild Wild Interwebs. Topics cover everything from writing basics to editing, querying, marketing, and publishing. There are over forty of us now, blogging away like helpful little bees. Come join in! After months and months of agonizing and writing and editing and changing and freaking out and writing some more, my newest book is done. Finished. FIN. Clocking in…

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An Updated Slang Dictionary for Your Author Toolbox

This is an Author Toolbox hop post. Every month, the hop supports writers of every stage with resources, ideas, inspiration, tips, and tricks for any and all comers. Join us here at author Raimey Gallant’s website. We’ve been here before (in 2018 with A Modern Slang Dictionary for Your Writer Toolbox) but guess what. It’s 2020 now and the slang has changed! Why does it change so fast? Is it only to annoy us elderly folk? Is it a result of instant…

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Throw Away Your Crutches: Author Toolbox

The author toolbox is the creation of Raimey Gallant, all about sharing resources, discoveries, and expertise. If you’re a writer looking for a diverse range of help in many different areas, this is your hop. Come join! What do you mean by writing crutch, SE? I mean something like those words we overuse (that, suddenly, like) but in the realm of scene setting and action beats your characters go through. Here are some examples of common writing crutches/habits/aids. Dramatic sighs.…

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No Filter in Your Author Toolbox

This old post has been brushed up for this month’s Author Toolbox Blog Hop, hosted and moderated by author Raimey Gallant. Authors at all stages of their writing/publishing journey are welcome to hop in and bring new ideas and tools. Did you know there are such things as “filter words” when writing? I did not as a smol writer but now, thanks to the Tunnel of Everlasting Rejection which was 2017, I do. In the course of a) submitting my…

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Author Toolbox: Creating Wonderful Characters

This is an author toolbox hop post. Author toolbox is the creation of author Raimey Gallant  ,a box with an emphasis on sharing tips, tricks, and advice with other authors as we all try to navigate together. Characters make or break a story. Yes, there’s plot as well, but I think the characters end up being equally as important. After all, the action loses impact when we don’t really care about the people it’s happening to. They are so important they…

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Writing the Good Bad Boy: Author Toolbox

This is an author toolbox blog post. To get in on the authoring goodies distributed every month, go sign up on the website of our generous leader Raimey Gallant The Brooding Bad Boy* as a trope (otherwise known as Damaged With a Heart of Gold, Alpha Male, or Redeemed Rake, depending on what time period you’re writing) seems to be huge, ESPECIALLY in YA literature right now. Dark romance and angst as a plot line are trending, which means the…

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A Tool for Detecting Passive Voice: Author Toolbox

There are some generally accepted Golden Rules for authors (which, okay, change from century to century, genre to genre, and are not so much rules as guidelines?) One of them is DEATH to All Adverbs, which I am personally fighting against because I love me a good adverb. Another is Conflict is King. Too bad no one can really decide on the definitive definition of “conflict” for any given novel since it’s pretty much subjective and changes depending on what…

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