Stephanie Cage - Writer

Wow!  I wish I'd discovered this site years ago.  I found autocrit as a result of an excellent article about writing by fellow Crimson Romance novelist Bobbi Romans, author of the intriguingly titled 'Swamp Magic'.  The article, which you can find here , is well worth a read.  Although it's described as advice for beginning writers, there are some things worth hearing more than once, even if you've been writing for years.  Bobbi's tips span everything from critique groups to finding out about industry trends, so even if you've been following some of the pointers for a long time, others may well be fresh, as online editing site autocrit was for me.  Courtesy of autocrit, I've learned that I've finally conquered my habit of scattering my stories with the words 'just' and 'really', only to see a forest of 'it' and 'was' springing up in their place!  *Sigh*.  A writer's work is never done...

I'm a big fan of writing prompts to help get things started.  A blank page is far less terrifying if there's something to suggest a direction you might take in filling it.  I have a number of books of writing prompts (of which my current favourite is 'The Writer's Idea Book') but it's always good to find fresh ones, and this is my latest source: http://www.squidoo.com/writeprompts The site contains not only some great prompts (frequently updated) but also some wise thoughts about the use of prompts, such as a reminder not to get too hung up about hunting for the 'right' prompt.  Reading 100 prompts in quick succession won't get the book written, and will mean that when you come to use those prompts in future, they're no longer as fresh and inspiring as if you were seeing them for the first time.  You have been warned!