Blooming Twig

02/16/2022

PROMPT: Your main character comes across this cabin during their travels. Who lives here? Will they reveal information that will help or hurt your character?

02/09/2022

Don’t be afraid to try new things in your writing. It could be a new way of telling your story, or it could be moving the climax to the middle of the story and seeing if you can up the stakes even *more.* Try changing things up because they’ll either work out or point you in the right direction.

02/07/2022

"Breaking it down to one line, one sentence, that’s how to start." — Valerie June

(And don't do what we do, , which is write one sentence and then take a break to check Facebook or Instagram 🙃)

This episode continues our video series to benefit the wonderful Mighty Writers, a Philadelphia-based non-profit that teaches reading and writing to thousands of low-income and marginalized student…

02/04/2022

What makes a "real" reader? If you have to motivate yourself to read, does that make you a bad reader/you don't consider yourself a "reader"?

We don't subscribe to that idea. If you read books and find some sort of enjoyment or fulfillment from it, then you're a reader in our eyes (no matter what your Goodreads reading goal number is for the year!).

But we'd love to hear what you think. Let us know in the comments!

https://buff.ly/3H2kMII

Reading is supposed to be an enjoyable hobby. So why do some of us book lovers have to motivate ourselves to do it?

02/02/2022

PROMPT: Write a 6 word story based on this picture and share it in the comments!

01/31/2022

Want our best self-editing tip? Read everything out loud.

You'll catch things that look fine on paper, but sound weird when said aloud.

(This isn't groundbreaking advice, but it does really work. Also, it'll save you time in the long run if you do this before you plug everything into a grammar checker ✅)

01/28/2022

Do you struggle with writing dialogue? Or maybe you find that your dialogue comes out sounding robotic or choppy?

You're NOT the only one.

Margery Bayne wrote a great article discussing the importance of subtext while writing dialogue. And they gave some great tips on things to avoid, like infodumping.

How to avoid stilted and unnatural dialogue

01/26/2022

But do you want to take the easy way out?

01/24/2022

If you've tried reading more and increasing the amount of time you spend writing, but you're still struggling to improve your writing, then you should try editing someone else's work.

It'll give you a new point of view and you'll be familiar with common mistakes to look out for in your own writing.

What I learned editing 39 blog posts in one week

01/21/2022

How many can you identify?

(If you don't get #25, we can't be friends.)

If you’re here, you’re probably pretty well read. Congratulations you! Still, it’s one thing to read a great book, but quite another to retain it. Especially considering most of u…

01/19/2022

PROMPT: Trying to get their thoughts in order, your protagonist is walking down this street late at night. What's bothering them? Is it something in the past? Or are they anxious about something that may happen in the future?

01/17/2022

“So long as you write what you wish to , that is all that matters; and whether it matters for ages or only for hours, nobody can say.” ― Virginia Woolf