Have you been working on a novel or other large creative project for a while, and feeling like organizing and managing the project has become a big challenge? Have a million ideas captured in a million documents or none at all, just free-floating in your head? In this blog post, I’ll outline a method for…
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Part 1: Lost in the Woods I am fascinated by the special kind of horror that can only be found in stories about and for children. Since the very first children’s books by Perrault and the Grimm brothers, and before that, in folktales and oral traditions, stories about children have so often been gruesome and…
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Sitting down with Don Maass of the famous Donald Maass Literary Agency last week, I wasn’t all that nervous. Probably the lack of sleep and my impending major surgery scheduled for four days later had dulled my need for validation. Or maybe it was because I actually believe in the book I was pitching; I…
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Learn how to use Orson Scott Card’s MICE Quotient along with Mary Robinette Kowal’s adaptation of this technique to include nesting codes and try/fails to successfully plot your novel.
In this article, you’ll learn a simple (takes only 30 minutes), yet powerful self-questionnaire technique to solve all your plot problems, and you can download the Solving Plot Problems Template free, no sign-up required. Especially in science fiction and fantasy, or in any longer story with a large number of elements or characters to keep track of, there…
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Just got back from the Surrey International Writing Conference where I pitched my novel series successfully to three agents. Sounds great, right? Well, yes, it is, but there’s a big but. BUT, the agents have all basically made it clear that they want me to send them a standalone book “with series potential.” Not a…
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This article is an update of my February 2011 article, It’s Time for Accountable Content on Blogs. Since then, I have learned three solid reasons to write accountable blog content: Your readers will trust you more Your site will rank higher in search engines You will make more money In this article I’ll cover these…
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This article was written in 2010 and was updated in January, 2016. It covers the following: My experience with the local Vancouver writing community How online critiquing works Pros of online critiquing Cons of online critiquing Tips for using an online critique group successfully In October of 2010, I volunteered at two writing and reading…
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In this article, I discuss my process for developing plot and share the incredible tools I discovered to examine, critique and improve the plot of my novel. Download this new and improved for 2021 Campbell vs. Vogler Plot Design Template that will help you design your plot by examining if and how your story follows the hero’s journey. Joseph Campbell and Christopher…
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In this post I’ll give you a free style guide template to work with, and I’ll cover the following: What is a style guide? Why create a personal style guide? How to create a style guide. In university we learn about style guides such as MLA and APA, which are so confusing that you practically…
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Pico Iyer wrote a playful and eloquent article for the Los Angeles Times about his decision to write long sentences as a form of protest against our world’s obsession with speed. He explained that as a young journalist he had succumbed to the need for speed and crunched his writing into short soundbites, but as he…
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So, what is grammar? One of the best definitions of grammar that I have heard comes from a book called The Practice of English Language Teaching (link opens book on Scribd), which defines grammar as: “the description of the ways in which words can change their forms and be combined to form sentences.“ For example, “I pie…
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For the writers (and readers) who have not read (or who have not finished reading) William Gibson’s Neuromancer NEUROMANCER! Well, I don’t want to come across as a book snob, but I do have to ask: How can you call yourself a well-read fictionado without having read Neuromancer? In classic Lily-(from How I Met…
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People often think sentence fragments are bad, but they are actually a writer’s best friend when used properly. This article explores sentence structure in depth, and acquaints the reader with the seven types of sentence fragments. You will learn how to write beautiful, strong sentences that are varied and complex. This lesson is for beginner…
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We live in what is called the ‘information age’ and the world has been called the ‘Content Nation‘; people are now able to create content at rates that were truly unreachable even 20 years ago, and share that with people on the other side of the world. It’s amazing–and very overwhelming. Pete Cashmore (of Mashable)…
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Hi, I'm Shalon and I'm a writer and educator. I use this site to share what I learn on my journeys in creative writing, education, English, science, and psychology.
Each article you read here is a labour of love grounded in research, with plenty of references to professional, academic, or peer websites, books and articles. I aim to connect my writing to a larger knowledge community while offering my own unique perspective or contribution, which often comes in the form of free downloadable templates, worksheets and study guides.
Welcome. I hope you find something useful here.
You might enjoy reading the top post on my site, The 7 Types of Sentence Fragments and How to Use Them.
This post is used every day by teachers and students around the world to teach and learn the art of building beautiful, advanced sentences in English.
The free pdf download of the lesson in shortened form is free to copy, alter and distribute for non-commercial purposes.
If you are using this lesson, please let me know how you have used it and how it has helped you. I’m curious!
Below you’ll find works of art that I lovingly crafted just for you!
FEAR & HORROR IN CHILDREN’S LITERATURE
In this essay, I discuss why children’s literature is often scary, and why that’s awesome!
In this essay I discuss how to use comics to teach Language Arts, and how diversity in comics can help students enrich both their literacy and their life.
In this essay I discuss my personal journey with anxiety and some of the ways I’ve learned to manage my anxiety.
PLOT YOUR NOVEL WITH M.I.C.E. QUOTIENT
In this post I share what I learned at a writing conference about plotting with Orson Scott Card’s M.I.C.E. Quotient, and Mary Robinette Kowal’s adaptations to this technique, including nesting codes and try/fails. All of these techniques help you evaluate whether your plot keeps the promises you made to your readers.
