Lessons and failures – Page 2 – shannonmeyerkort.com

Your brain is a cheat and a liar

When you are close to your work, you often can’t see errors anymore, but I discovered a great tool that helps me hear them instead | Shannon Meyerkort

Some thoughts on short story plots

One thing I find lacking is information about the content of short stories. What you can write about, the plot, the story itself | Shannon Meyerkort

2020: My Best Year Yet

This year I had a success rate of 14%, and while this number isn’t something many people would publicly announce, what lies behind the 14% is an achievement I am proud of | Shannon Meyerkort

Virtual Literary Speed Dating – tips from a first-timer

Hints and tips for surviving a virtual literary speed date and how to pitch your manuscript | Shannon Meyerkort

Finding Story Talismans and Motifs

Motifs are not necessarily part of the story and often do not carry any extra meaning for the characters themselves. It is a relationship between the author and audience… the symbols must be both subtle yet significant | Shannon Meyerkort

Starting from Scratch (again)

What happens when you realise you need to rewrite your entire book because you didn’t tell the story you thought you had? A lesson in starting over | Shannon Meyerkort

Finding Beta Readers (Making yourself vulnerable)

A Beta Reader’s job is to provide constructive feedback as an informed casual reader – they’re looking at big picture issues such as story, characters, timing and basic structure: does the story work?

Can you make money from blogging?

I had been under the distinct impression that writing, in any form, was a humbling and poverty-inducing career choice; that one chose it from a place of deep desire, like a religious calling, and not because you could actually make a buck from it…

Writing Character Arcs (or Falling in Love with your Characters)

‘But does Winnie actually want a husband and children, or is she happily single?’ my mentor Brooke asked as we discussed my book, Letting Go. ‘What does she want from life?’ ‘Ahhhhh,’ was my rather inarticulate response. I didn’t know. It suited my purposes for this particular character to be childless, but I hadn’t consideredContinueContinue reading “Writing Character Arcs (or Falling in Love with your Characters)”

Addicted to flashbacks

An addiction to flashbacks may sound like I misspent my youth, but in reality I have discovered an over-reliance on a literary technique that threatens to turn my book into a time-hopping debacle.