Category: Writing Matters

If you’re like me, you put a lot of thought into naming characters, which is why I make these lists of names! If you have millennial characters in a U.S. based novel, story, or screenplay, you might want to give them names that were popular when they were born. Some people in older generations can occasionally forget that millennials have

I wrote this list of romantic scene ideas because as a romance novel editor, I often ask an author to put in another romantic scene—one in which the reader can tell the main characters are really falling in love (or already there!) I also decided to write it because lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about iconic romance scenes in

Hi, everyone! I hope your summer is treating you right so far! And if it isn’t, let’s distract ourselves with creating…that’s one of the best coping skills I know. It’s Work in Progress Wednesday, when we all share excerpts of what we’re writing! I went over the guidelines yesterday, so I won’t belabor them again. I’ll just tell you that

I write a lot of posts about developing writing skills. I share help with plotting, character development, descriptions, and much, much more. But the best skill you’ll ever learn as a writer is setting boundaries, and it’s something I’m getting much better at lately. This is such an important and difficult topic, and I hope this post helps! First, let’s

Hey, amazing authors! Today I’m going to talk about how to do front matter in a book. It’s something you need to know If you’re self-publishing for the first time…and even if you’ve self-published many books, this still may give you some new ideas! What is front matter in a book? Basically, it’s everything that goes before Chapter One. The

A few people have asked me to do a list about meet cute tropes. Given my former day job at Hallmark Publishing and my love of making lists for writers, I have to admit I’m the perfect person to do it! But first, let’s talk about the “meet cute” definition. Meet Cute – Meaning The “meet cute” is usually a