Elen síla lúmenn’ omentielvo. A star shines on the hour of our meeting. If you tried to guess what language this is, you might have thought it was Finnish, or Italian, or any number of others. But it is no language native to Earth—rather, it is of Middle-earth. This is Quenya, one of the languages … More Constructed Language (Conlang) for Fantasy and Sci-Fi
There are certain phrases from a good book that stay with you. My most recent read, Laura Ruby’s Bone Gap, was full of them. Most of them had some kind of description. All five of them were short and bowlegged, making them look like a chorus line of wishbones. (8) She examined her hands, the … More CRAFT WITH KERI: Making Your Descriptions Count
I. Love. NaNoWriMo. I did NaNo for the first time when I was 13 years old, and it cemented my lifelong love of writing novels. I’m participating this year with a modified goal—20k instead of 50k, adding to the WIP I’m already working on instead of writing a new manuscript. It wasn’t my original plan … More NaNoWriMo Special Offer!
So, I tried. I really tried. But it seems I’m just a pantser at heart. I wrote out my outline. I followed it for a good 12,000 words. And I lost the passion. It seems almost like I can’t win. If I plot too much, I get bored. If I don’t plot, I lose direction. … More Learning to (Not) Become a Plotter, Part III
Sometimes your book has been through a few rounds of self-editing and beta reading, but it still isn’t quite there yet. Now, I’m offering a service that aims to help you identify your manuscript’s strengths and weaknesses. Manuscript critique is exactly what it sounds like. The basics: I read your manuscript and tell you what I think … More Now Available: Manuscript Critique
My best friend is a journalist in Beaumont, Texas. It’s not a big city. If you’ve ever heard of it, it’s probably been in the last few days. It’s underwater. Beaumont was hit hard by Hurricane Harvey, receiving over 20 inches of rain on Tuesday, August 29. Few cities, if any, are prepared to handle … More Hurricane Harvey
Earlier this month, I wrote about my struggles with plotting out stories before starting to write. I’ve always been a semi-impulsive writer, and lately it’s come back to bite me. Although I love the spontaneity, I hit the 20k mark and either get bored of the story or create something so inconsistent that the task … More Learning to Become a Plotter, Part II
A common piece of writing advice—and in fact, one I take very seriously—is to start with a bang. Hit the ground running. You want to hook your reader so that they keep reading, and the first paragraph—the first line, even—is vital to that, but the element of your beginning that is most important to your plot is … More CRAFT WITH KERI: The Inciting Incident
I’ve always been firmly in the pantsing camp. That is, “writing by the seat of your pants,” or making all (or most) of it up as you go along. If my writing is not spontaneous, then I get bored. I feel like I’m following a formula, and it sucks the joy out of doing it. … More Learning to Become a Plotter
I was featured on Abi Pearson’s blog yesterday! Thank you for having me, Abi!
