I’ve been a long-time believer that writing is a skill that gets better when you work on it, just like any other skill. If you practice the ukulele five minutes a day, you’ll get better. It’s not just about growing the skill, I’ve found; it’s…
Author: Jane
Okay, confession: When I generate a story, I don’t think about beats or scenes at all. I just write, because I’m primarily a discovery writer and I need to write in order to understand the characters, the setting, and the story. Usually, though, beats and…
I was watching the music video to BTS’s song Dynamite the other day because it cheers me up, and I realized that the editing in this brilliant, super fun video is a great lesson for writing scenes. First, watch the video: Did you notice how…
Hi writers, how do you know if you’re getting better? It can be hard to judge. Writing (any kind of art) is so subjective, and we’re often the worst judges of our work anyway. (The same story can seem terrible and pretty good to me,…
I’m so so so excited for this story! It’s out on Julia Ríos’s Patreon, sponsored by her patrons (THANK YOU!): How to Defeat Gravity and Achieve Escape Velocity is an adventure featuring queers and crushes, space pirates, heists, and sticking it to The Man. And…
One of the upsides of the pandemic has been the ability to attend conferences that I normally don’t have the money or time to travel to! Last year was the first time I was able to check out events that had long been on my…
[I’m starting a new semi-regular thing on this blog called “Friday Fun and Games” in which I’ll wax on about something fun, and usually game-related (or, at least, play-related!) There may or may not be any craft discussions. Usually there are, since I’m often thinking…
Your friend, the painter, invites you over to view her new works. The first painting is a minimalist masterpiece. It’s a still life, of a green apple next to a rat, on a windowsill. The rat could be alive or dead. It’s hard to say.…
At some point in my adulthood, I transitioned from “Nah, birthdays aren’t that important” to “YES IT’S MY BIRTHDAY, TIME TO CELEBRATE ALL WEEK.” I don’t know why, exactly. Maybe I got to a stage in my life where I feel like every year survived…
Happy New Year, and happy Friday, friends. I hope you are staying healthy and safe and finding what happiness you can. If you are in the United States, as I am, I hope you are able to find calm after the turbulence of the last…