Writing groups are great – there’s nothing better than spending time with people who have the same desire to write as you do and understand the writing life. Everyone brings something new to the table, whether it’s an opinion, something they learned in a class or at a...
Writing
Can Writing Courses Kill Your Writing Career?
by Anita Stratos, Proof Positive editor It sounds counterintuitive, doesn’t it? Writing courses are supposed to help build your writing career with insights into style, content, character development, and all the other things needed for a good novel. They also offer a...
Why Freelance Writing is Your Creative Writing Inspiration
by Anita Stratos, Proof Positive editor One thing I’ve noticed about the writing world – it likes to separate itself into groups. I’m not talking about genres. Two of the main groups I’ve noticed are “Writing for Hire” and “Creative Writing”, and members of each can...
Intention vs. Reality in Writing
“But Your Honor, I intended to help that little old lady across the street. Her purse handle just happened to loop over my arm, and I didn’t realize it was there until I was several blocks away and that cop tackled me!” Do you think any judge in the world would...
Celebrities Are Off Limits. Here’s Why.
The next time you're going to include a celebrity name in your book, DON'T DO IT, even if it's flattering! You could be sued for something you didn't even know you were implying. In the French book La première chose qu’on regard, author Grégoire Delacourt included...
How (Not) to Write a Novel
I always sing author Quanie Miller's praises because she's such an outstanding writer. In fact, I did a fun and interesting interview with her in 2013 about her premier book It Ain't Easy Being Jazzy. As the owner of Proof Positive, I am proud to be featured on her...
End It Like an Olympian
Strong endings are even more important than strong beginnings. Does that statement sound crazy to you? Especially since we’re constantly told that we need to grab readers in the first paragraph or two of the book in order to turn browsers into buyers? I’m not saying...
How Do You Name Your Characters?
The names you give your characters are more important than you may realize, but how easy is it to choose a name which creates the right impression of your character? Not so easy! Everyone has a different impression of common names because most readers have met Sarahs...
“Literally” Is The New “Figuratively”…And Other Word Anomalies
Language evolution is an understandable and even necessary thing – linguists agree that when a language stops evolving, it quickly becomes a dead language. But English is undergoing an interesting type of evolution: word definitions are changing and expanding to...
eBook Plague – Errors Aplenty
“Annoying.” “Very irritating.” These are just a couple of the most common descriptives readers are using when talking about their frustrations with the numerous errors in e-books. These readers are asking Amazon and other e-book distributors for refunds without...