Sarah Parke's Blog, page 2

Keep Your Story Straight with a Story Bible

This article was co-written by Sarah Parke and Elizabeth Beechwood. Some writing projects require a lot of research, particularly novels that incorporate mythology, historical research, or invented languages. If you’re working on a novel and finding yourself drowning in story details, you may want to create a Story Bible. A Story Bible collects all the […]

Book Birthday – The Mourning Ring

Today is the BIG day! My debut YA Historical Fantasy, The Mourning Ring, is available to order through CreateSpace or Amazon. I am so excited to start receiving feedback on this novel! It has been a passion project for me ever since I started the first draft back in April 2015. If you’ve ever wanted […]

Feeling Drafty: R.M. Romero Talks “Pants-ing” Her Way Through NaNoWriMo

Every November I get excited about participating in National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). I like the sense of energy (and urgency) that it creates, whether you’re participating in community write-ins at your local library or sitting at your kitchen table furiously trying to make word count before midnight each day. This year, I had a […]

That About Covers It: An Interview with Illustrator and Concept Artist, Courtney Trowbridge

Interview with Illustrator Courtney Trowbridge

Publication Peak

This time of year many people take stock of their lives and recognize the people and things which they are grateful for. I’m grateful for my loving and supportive husband, my family, and my friends. I’m grateful to have a job that allows me to help other adults learn to read. And as an author […]

Another November, Another Novel: NaNoWriMo 2015

I’ve spent most of the day puttering around the apartment, cleaning off my desk, pulling out my favorite pens and writing craft texts. Generally, preparing myself for the next 30 days of frenzied writing abandon. I’m talking, of course, about NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month). A 30-day writing challenge where writers (both professional and amateur) […]

Plotting with the Seven-Point System

NOTE: Last week I blogged about Dan Wells’ Seven-Point System and dissected some successful short stories to see how their structure worked. I’ll be referring to Wells’ system again this week, so I recommend reading last week’s post (HERE) so you know what I’m talking about. We know that the Seven-Point System works for short […]

Short Stories and the Seven-Point System

One of my favorite things about being a writer is that my “training” never stops. There will always be conferences, workshops, new (or old) books on craft and technique to discover. When your goal is to be a professional author, the learning never ends. With writing there is always some new technique to learn or […]

The One with the Yale Writers’ Conference

My experience at the Yale Writers' Conference.

Running and Writing

For me, writing is all about sprints, while making a living as an author is a marathon. Stick with me as I unpack this extended metaphor a bit… Writers, like runners, have to build strength and stamina through (writing) exercises, diet (of quality reading material), and specialized training (in the form of workshops and writing […]