I once took a screenwriting class, and in our first session the professor emphasized how important it is to make our writing time “holy.” When he said that, I found myself nodding in agreement. I thought of how easily I get distracted from my own writing because I don’t place enough value on the time […]

A character arc is the way a character changes or grows throughout the course of a story. The change can be physical or emotional, and it doesn’t have to be major, but you want your main characters, especially your protagonist, to experience some sort of transformation along their journey. At the beginning of your story, […]

Writer’s block is the worst. The worst! When it strikes and I find myself sitting at my desk, staring at nothing, I often feel like my white laptop screen is snickering at me and sending me horrible thoughts. You suck, Maria! Who are you to think you can be a writer? Why don’t you just […]

I recently read a novel that was heavy on dialogue without a ton of attribution (e.g. adding “she said”), which I like, because I don’t think a conversation needs that after every single sentence. However, the author of this book had a habit of going two or even three pages into a conversation without any attribution of […]