May I interject? On dots, dashes, and parenthesis — As I said in “Academic Writing Rules to Leave Behind When Writing Fiction” there are official writing rules that we learn in grammar classes and are reinforced in academic and professional writing… that have nothing to do with creative writing. Because creative writing is, as it says in the name…

Why dialogue tag placement matters — I love writing dialogue, and I love writing about dialogue. Here’s the evidence: On Writing Dialogue Edit descriptionmargerybayne.medium.com There has been a lot said about whether you should or should not use words other than “said.” Generally, no… However, that rule can be broken, or at least I break it. There is a lot said…

There is no wasted writing — The first fanfiction I ever wrote and posted online was in 2004 and the last was in 2020. Fanfiction writing took me from middle school to high school to college and up through my early adulthood. It’s the first place I played with creative writing, was part of a writing…

Making character flaws that matter — Characters, in my opinion, are the heart of the story. They make the plot happen. They speak the dialogue. They think the introspection. They represent the themes. Great characters can be as iconic or more iconic than the stories they come from. Most writers are probably familiar with the concept…

A strategy for a useful, sustainable, no-spamming newsletter — I aim to be strategic in what new avenues of writing and my writing business I want to expand into. …

What it is, how to use it, and when you shouldn't — The majority of fiction is written in the past tense, especially third-person fiction. However, writing fiction in the present tense is a growing trend. …

Is that a humble brag, or what? — In October 2022, I ran my first (and likely last) marathon. And because I can’t turn my writing brain off… and because training for a marathon means being alone in your own head for hours on end… I turned the whole experience into a metaphor for writing. Here we go. Long term training …

My dialogue tag confession — One common guideline in the world of fiction writing regarding dialogue is to only use “said” in your dialogue tags. …

What you can’t rely on when editing your own writing — Ah, the bane of the writing process— proofreading. You wrote it. Maybe multiple drafts. You edited it. But now you have got to read it again… for typos? Proofreading is probably the least glamorous part of the writing process, but one of the most necessary to complete a polished, professional…