When we talk about writing to deadlines or a big, timed event like NaNoWriMo, we often spend most of our time talking about plot, ideas, and scenes. Those things are important, of course, but there’s more to success sometimes than just prepping your novel. What about prepping your life for a big deadline? Today on […]
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It’s that lovely time of year where writers come together to start preparing for National Novel Writing Month. Even if NaNoWriMo isn’t your thing, I hope these new videos will help spark something for you as you prepare and plan your next novel! Planning Your Novel What Type Of Writer Are You? The first thing […]
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I’m starting a new book! Except that it’s not a brand new book. It’s an older book that I started back in 2019 and never got a chance to finish. I currently have a handful of plotting notes and just over 20,000 words of completed draft. Even though I set this book aside in 2019 […]
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Welcome to the fifth and final episode in our series on Writing Great Scenes. So far, we’ve learned about the main elements of a scene, how to write a character’s goal or desire, how to write conflict, and how to structure your scenes and create scene cards from your notes. If you missed the first […]
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Our discussion of how to write great scenes continues today with Episode 4 of the series, where we’ll be going over scene structure. This is really where everything we’ve talked about so far comes together to create the true building blocks of your entire novel or story. If you missed the first three parts, I’ll […]
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Welcome back to Episode 3 in our “Writing Great Scenes” series. Last week, we discussed the importance of each scene having a point-of-view character with a clear goal or desire. This week, we’re going to talk about what I feel is the most important aspect of writing an engaging scene: conflict. If you missed the […]
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In all good scenes, your point-of-view character will have a goal or desire. Something your character wants. Today, we’re diving into character arcs, goals, and how these work together to create an engaging scene for your readers. This is part 2 of my series on great scenes. To check out the first video and post, go […]
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As writers, we hear a lot about plot structure, but in my opinion, we don’t hear nearly enough about scenes. In truth, scenes are really where the story happens. So, if you’ve ever struggled with figuring out what happens in your scenes or taking the idea of plot and fleshing it out into individual scenes, […]
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The first half of 2022 is officially over and I’m so excited about what the next 6 months hold for me (and all of you)! Great way to start: Erin Condren haul!! Erin Condren was kind enough to gift me with part of their Back To School Collection and I’m unboxing it over on my […]
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Can you believe that we’re officially halfway through 2022? There have been so many things I’ve wanted to accomplish this year, but between traveling, buying and setting up a new home, running my Heart Breathings courses, there just hasn’t been enough time. But that doesn’t mean that the back half of the year will be […]
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I have been self-publishing my books since 2010, and in that time, I've sold well over half a million copies of my books. I'm not a superstar or a huge bestseller, but I have built an amazing career that brings me great joy. Here at Heart Breathings, I hope to help you find that same level of success. Let's do this.