Plotters vs. Pantsers

The Insecure Writer’s Support Group And Writing Slumps

The Insecure Writer’s Support Group is the online place to discuss your struggles and triumphs. Offer a word of encouragement for others who are struggling. Visit others in the group and connect with your fellow writers – aim for a dozen new people each time – and return comments. Our Twitter handle is @TheIWSG and hashtag is #IWSG. To join the group yourself, click here and get ready to sink into a warm, comforting bath of support. The awesome co-hosts for…

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Where to Submit Short Stories for Your Author Toolbox

This is the final Author Toolbox post for 2020 because we take November and December off (HOLIDAYS!). But don’t worry, you haven’t missed us. You can always sign up on Raimey Gallant’s website and catch us when we start posting again in January, 2021. For the last Author Toolbox post of 2020 I’d like to share with you three years of my experience in submitting. I love writing short stories. I also love submitting them to magazines, anthologies, and websites…

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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: Tell Me How to Show

This post is part of the author toolbox blog hop, created and hosted by Raimey Gallant. Click on the link to join in with over thirty other authors and receive their pearls of wisdom on a monthly basis. Do you know how to tell, at a glance, that you’re dealing with a new, inexperienced author? Telling. When the writing is chock-a-block full of telling, it’s a gargantuan, neon clue blaring out: This author is still learning. This author is hacking…

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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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Make a Wish: an IWSG Post

The Insecure Writer’s Support Group is a judgment-free presence in your author life. Tell us about your doubts or fears, and how you have conquered them. Bring us in on your struggles and triumphs. Offer a word of encouragement for others who might be struggling. Visit and connect with your fellow writers. The group aims for a dozen visits each IWSG Wednesday. And make sure to return comments. This group is all about connection! The awesome co-hosts for the April…

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The Insecure Writer’s Group Gets All Up In My Personal Space

This is an Insecure Writer’s Support Group post. The group is all about no judgment, secure support for every writer. We post once a month and reach out to each other for support, tips, ideas, encouragement, and occasional lists. It’s the most wonderful time of the year, every month. Come join! This month’s co-hosts are JH Moncrieff, Tonja Drecker, Patsy Collins, and Chrys Fey! They deserve a big, virtual thank you so don’t forget to stop by and say it. This month, IWSG wants to…

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Plotting, for Pantsers

Welcome to the 2018 #AuthorToolboxBlogHop and my first post for the hop! Come join in and post useful, helpful or interesting things for other authors. This blog hop is the brainchild of Raimey Gallant and you can sign up on her website. By inclination I’m a Pantser (Pantsers, Pantsers, Oi, Oi, Oi!) (That’s our motto) (I just made it up) I’ve read online about plotters who get their entire book, down to each and every scene, outlined to within an inch of…

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