For more than 20 years, the Accelerated Reader (AR) program has been helping kids read children's books they enjoy, at their own pace. Readers of all levels can choose an AR book, read their way through it, then take a computerized quiz to assess their understanding and sometimes earn class credit. Educators across the US [...]
Tag: writing-process
Self-Editing Tips: Use Ctrl + H to Edit Your Writing
MS Keyboard Shortcuts Are Gold If you use MS Word on a regular basis to write and edit, you probably already know about the most common keyboard shortcuts. (If you're not familiar with the long list of Windows keyboard shortcuts out there, check them out now!) In particular, there are several wonderful, useful keyboard shortcuts [...]
Improve Your Writing Process
The Outcome Can Terrorize You If there's a thousand ways to do something, there's a thousand ways to do it right. And a thousand ways to muck it up. And the truth is -- you'll never find the process that works for you, without stumbling through a few of those. In On Writing Well, by William Zinsser, [...]
Creative Thinking & Writer’s Block: Oblique Strategies App
There’s a bunch of apps out there to help you be a better writer. You may want to try a few to see what works for you. May I recommend Oblique Strategies? It’s available for both Android (here) and Apple (here) This sleek, straightforward app is designed to give you simple food for thought and […]
The importance of charity
It's a difficult thing, a solid thing, a hard thing: to let go. To release. But, decisions change the world.
29 Words to Cut from Your Novel
Writing advice for making your fiction or nonfiction clear and concise. Editing advice to help you.
Using Personality “Tests” in Fiction
Understand Personality to Connect with Audience & Write Strong Characters Who are your readers? Who are your characters? How do you connect them? In essence, this is the challenge of the fiction writer -- replacing real people with believable ones, and then somehow making them real for the real ones. The connections? Personality. (Not even [...]
Reading for Fiction Writing
Writers love to read. Learn to leverage your reading for better writing.
Thoughts On Vampires
Death is coming. For each of your characters. How will they live, knowing this truth? And what to do about vampires?
Editing for Creative Writing
Creativity is a gift. And a curse. Creative editors help writers make the most of their spark.