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What's the theme of your story (fiction, creative nonfiction, memoir, poetry, even nonfiction)? How to figure out theme from the story's premise/ log line.

Those who know me well know how much I love wild ocean beaches and their waves! This post about inspiration (and creativity and motivation) with its beautiful pictures totally spoke to me! I hope it speaks to you, too :-) https://bit.ly/3uLgP4E

Very practical and useful advice for writing deep third-person point of view:

Just don't plagiarise! Please! Why? Read this excellent piece by BC Writer Brian Douglas:

Does your child struggle with reading/spelling long vowel sounds? Check out and download these fun freebies! https://penandpapermama.com//15/long-vowel-sounds-freebies/

Some thoughts about school writing curriculums and real-world writing: https://normajhill.com//school-writing-vs-writing-for-pub/

Theme is such an important aspect of writing--even with genre fiction, it can add so much richness to your story. Here's a good discussion of how to use theme:

Children's picture books are usually 32 pages. Here's how to map them out as you write:

A very good introduction for indie writers looking for an illustrator for children's books:

Do writers need to use social media or not? This is a very good introduction to the topic.

Some excellent plot twist ideas and prompts!

This post from Faye E Arcand is excellent! Wonderful information on creating great titles and headlines on your blog posts.

Are you considering doing a big writing project--or part way through a thinking about quitting it? Here are some useful tips to help you get through the project successfully

How to evaluate publishers--especially small ones (but bigger ones, too!). Some aspects you might not have thought of:

Confused about all that "front matter" like forewards, prefaces, prologues, & introductions? Here's a good introduction to this topic:

Wondering about distribution with BookBaby, Draft2Digital, Smashwords, StreetLib, Ebook Partnership, FindawayVoices, PublishDrive, & XinXii? Here's a good intro to each:

Since I mostly write nonfiction (and yes, creative nonfiction) I tend to be a plotter. Recently I'm trying my hand at fiction, and wishing I could write more intuitively (pantser-style). If you're like me, maybe this post will help us both!

Loads of info on World Building--a whole series of posts by yours truly--created for a youth writing group but has become an evergreen series on my blog! Scroll to the bottom for full list of links:

Wonder how to "world build" your new novel (esp Sci-Fi and Fantasy--but also other genres)? Here's a good introduction--and in my next post/link I'll give you a link to a lot more resources!!

Freelancers: Is your manuscript ready for a magazine, guest blog post, etc.? Here's what those editors need from you: