Writing – Page 6 – Christine Smith

Realm Makers 2020 Thoughts

Post published:September 21, 2020
Post category:Encouragement Life Writing
Post comments:32 Comments

Back in July, I attended Virtual Realm Makers and though it was vastly different from in–person Realm Makers, it still blessed me more than I can express. Not to mention vaulted me to the end of this first round of rewrites for The Nether Isle. So yes, this post is some 2 months late, but a wizard arrives precisely when he means to between a hiatus, book reviews, finishing rewrites, The Silmaril Awards, and just processing, well, a LOT, it’s taken me this long to at last recap my virtual writers conference experience. You’ll forgive me, yes? *puppy dog eyes*…

#AboutTheAuthor August Tag

Post published:August 24, 2020
Post category:Writing
Post comments:60 Comments

Somehow we have made it to the final week of August, which is very confusing because wasn’t August 1st just yesterday??? REGARDLESS. Before the month slips away, I couldn’t help but snag a super fun tag all about the author life! The beautiful and creative Jameson @ Lovely Whatsoevers created the super fun #AboutTheAuthor tag last year, and has brought it back this year! Technically this is a #bookstagram challenge, buuuut I fail miserably at keeping up with those daily SO I am cheating and turning it into a blog post instead! The challenge ran from August 1st – 22nd,…

The Never Have I Ever Tag {Writer’s Edition}

Post published:June 15, 2020
Post category:Writing
Post comments:26 Comments

Writer: That strange creature who claims to write but in reality spends hours at a time scrolling on Pinterest. Ah yes, we writers always have some shameful confessions about our chosen career path, amiright? WELL. Today I’m going to be spilling the (coffee)beans of some of mine! Earlier in the year a blog tag was floating all around the writers’ blogosphere that just looked way too much fun to resist. Me being me, I’m arriving some 4 months late to the party. BUT I’M HERE NOW. And ready to revive this delicious tag! I’m sure you’ve all heard of the…

Genies Don’t Make Great Babysitters {A Faylinn Short Story – Part 9}

Post published:May 25, 2020
Post category:Prompts Writing
Post comments:28 Comments

At last it is time for another Faylinn short story! And I thiiink you guys are going to be pleased with this one. *grins* Let’s get to the info first. For Newcomers Each month Arielle posts a prompt on her writing blog that goes along with Fairy Tale Central’s monthly featured fairy tale. I’ve been writing short stories for it of a continuing story about a wingless fairy and banished prince, Raylinn and Finn, or “Faylinn” as is their designated ship name, and their tag along sassmaster, Zayd the genie. The Previous Stories For a while each story was…

Writing Good Stories: Lessons from Stranger Things Pt. 2

Post published:May 11, 2020
Post category:Writing
Post comments:18 Comments

I have returned with part 2 of the many writing tidbits I’ve picked up from Stranger Things! Today we’re diving into some of THE best tricks this show used to make it downright bingeworthy, and how we can make our own stories go from okay to GOOD. If you missed it, click here for part 1, where we learned things like how to make your readers fall in love with a character within the first 10 seconds of meeting them, how a simple gesture can make your reader’s heart swell, and basically a ton of other things to manipulate readers’…

Camp NaNo Wrapup {April 2020}

Post published:May 4, 2020
Post category:Writing
Post comments:45 Comments

It is officially May! Which means Camp NaNoWriMo is *gasp* OVER. And thus today I come to you to babble all about my April Camp NaNo experience! Normally I’d be talking about how the month flew by and I can’t believe it’s already May and yadda yadda yadda. Buuuut these past two months have more felt like a year each. Seriously, February was at least half an age ago. *collapses* With that said, Camp NaNo came at the BEST time. I’ve been needing a good boost in my rewrites and, since I’m stuck at home every day on these loooong…

Writing Good Stories: Lessons from Stranger Things Pt. 1

Post published:April 27, 2020
Post category:Writing
Post comments:21 Comments

Stranger Things—you’ve probably heard of it. That Netflix show that swept the internet as rapidly as the Frozen craze. Sometimes I’m leery about overhyped shows. But this one? This one earned its hype. Why? Because the writing is just so absurdly GOOD. If you were here for my post a couple of weeks ago about Disney TV series, you’ve probably gathered I’m pretty disgruntled with TV these days. Writing has just gone so downhill lately, and it frustrates me to no end. But sometimes, sometimes, a gem rises from the garbage and it restores my hope in TV writers. And,…

The Nether Isle (Draft 2) – My Camp NaNo Project

Post published:March 30, 2020
Post category:Writing
Post comments:65 Comments

Guess who’s doing Camp NaNo next month? *flails hand wildly in the air* And I am EXCITED! Confession: I’ve only done an official Camp NaNo once. And it was back in APRIL 2014. Yeah. YEAH. It’s been a whiiiile. NaNoWriMo during November is LIFE, but I always end up with other things distracting me during the Camp seasons. Well, NOT SO THIS YEAR, GOOD SIR. This go ‘round I’m doing it! …Sorta. Since Camp NaNo is tailored to fit ANY sort of project, not just the first draft of a brand new novel, it’s great motivation to make a lot…

The White Lion {A Faylinn Short Story – Part 8}

Post published:March 23, 2020
Post category:Prompts Writing
Post comments:37 Comments

Faylinn has returned! After accidentally leaving you guys on a cliffhanger for almost two months, I finally come to you with the next edition of my “Faylinn” short story series! Let’s get to the info first. For Newcomers Each month Arielle posts a prompt on her writing blog that goes along with Fairy Tale Central’s monthly featured fairy tale. I’ve been writing prompts for it of a continuing story about a wingless fairy and banished prince, Raylinn and Finn, or “Faylinn” as is their designated ship name…and their tag along sassmaster, Zayd. The Previous Stories For a while each…

5 Ways I Stay Productive (Without Losing My Mind)

Post published:March 9, 2020
Post category:Writing
Post comments:31 Comments

Productivity—that ever elusive thing we’re constantly trying to grasp. Sometimes enthusiastically, sometimes halfheartedly. But one thing we can all agree on: IT’S HARD. Productivity is as slippery as a banana in Mario Kart. It can trip us up. It can aid us. We may wish we’d stop obtaining these ridiculous bananas and just get the blue shell so we can cheat our way to #1. But if we know how to strategize, we can use them to make it to the top. (What even is this analogy?) I’m a bit of a contradiction because I can be SUCH a workaholic,…