Bev Pettersen's Blog, page 7

Wordsmith Wednesday: Strong Opening Paragraphs!

Welcome to Wordsmith Wednesday: Strong Opening Paragraphs! Im your host, Tamara Hogan.

In this monthly feature, well analyze strong opening paragraphs by looking at examples from both published books and unpublished manuscripts.

Whether were talking about the opening paragraphs of a book, of a chapter, or of a scene, the authors job is the same: ORIENT THE READER, QUICKLY. To me, this means being able to answer the following four questions in fairly short order:

Whos the point of view...

Brainstorming by Yourself

All across the nation, people are staying home, socially distancing, and generally isolating themselves. Which means, getting together with your critique partners has become a national no-no, unless youre FaceTiming or using one of those conferencing aps like Zoom.

So whats a writer to do when youre staring a new book, and that writers retreat that you scheduled where you were going to plot it out with friends has been postponed indefinitely? Short answer: you gotta suck it up and figure it...

If ever we needed stories about love…

Life changes so fast. This time last week, I was methodically rearranging events, rethinking travel plans, wondering how long before the world righted itself.

Then in a flash, the world laughed at my puny attempts at control. Change has come. Big change. I have to adjust.

My day-job employer has implemented mandatory work-from-home. As a facilitator at a software analytics company, my role is to help technical staff have difficult conversations and productive meetings.  Im not sure how Im...

Tagline showing the experience

This month, let’s try showing the experience a reader will receive from reading your story – or any story. This is for practice, after all. If a story is humorous, let’s try a tagline that is funny. If the story is scary, let’s try a tagline that is terrifying. Or sad. Or makes you sigh. We’ll use the usual limits. 50 words or less, 3 sentences or less.

It wasn’t the cobwebs in her face or the spider running across her bare foot that frightened her, it was seeing someone – something – move in...

No Work. No Pay.

Lately, I’m having a tough time focusing, on anything. I’m not here today to whine. I’m here asking for advice. Life has gotten so crazy that my muse has taken the back seat of the mini-van. I see her, staring far into space. Her face is a total blank page. Her hands remain folded motionless in her lap. She sits there, patently waiting for her turn, or maybe not waiting for a turn, while everything else screams for and gets my attention. It’s so important for any author to be producing new...

Ruby Tuesday

Hello everyone,

Due to an unforeseen illness (not Corona Virus – thank goodness!), our monthly Ruby Tuesday will be postponed.

But let me take this opportunity to remind you that you are important, more important than the book, or word count, or research. You are the priority, so please take care of yourself.

Stand up and move around every hour (set an alarm or buzz on your watch to remind you). Get some exercise everyday. Drink water (shoot for 64 oz). Eat healthy, colorful foods and take...

2020 Winter Writing Festival CLOSING CEREMONIES!

Time flies when you’re writing hard. Somehow the last seven weeks have passed in a blink and it’s DAY FIFTY of the Winter Writing Festival! That’s right, writer friends, it’s closing day for 2020.

It’s a bittersweet moment – cheering all we’ve accomplished, but also sad because it’s over. I’m so proud of us. WE DID THIS!!! And I hope every participant is looking back with pride at what they’ve accomplished.

Today is our final Check-In Friday and Closing Ceremonies combined, but you still...

Wordsmith Wednesday: Strong Opening Paragraphs

Welcome to Wordsmith Wednesday: Opening Paragraphs! I’m your host, Tamara Hogan.

In this monthly feature, we’ll analyze strong opening paragraphs by looking at examples from both published books and unpublished manuscripts.

The unpublished manuscripts part is where you might come in.

Winter Writing Festival – Check In Week 6

Hello our wonderful, WWFers! I hope you’ve had another productive week. It’s time for the Week Six Check-In for the Tenth Annual Winter Writing Festival!

Can you believe we’ve rounded 3rd base and are headed for home on this year’s Winter Writing Festival? How has the WWF been for you? Are you seeing progress on your project(s) and plans? Have you found a new rhythm or a fresh way of looking at your work? As always, we are here to cheer you on!

We may be winding down the WWF but the chat room...

Tips and Tricks – Let’s Talk Newsletters!

I’ve been working on upping engagement with my newsletter subscribers lately, and because of that, I’ve read about and listened to a lot of other authors’ tips. I’ve tried some of them, and others I’m still working on, but overall, I am slowly seeing my rate go up. That said, below are a few of the tips I’ve come across that seem to help. I hope you’ll add YOURS in the comments!

Make your subject line compelling! This is what might actually get them to open the newsletter, so do what you can...