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Writing World

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Featuring everything new and experienced authors need to develop creative and technical skills. Check out writing development articles, our Word of the Day, writing prompts, anthology opportunities and more!

Entries in this blog

Writing Tips - Skills

Losing Work And Starting Over

It is, quite possibly, the WORST feeling in the world to have poured your heart and soul into a project...ALL of your emotion...ALL of your creative energy...only to have some kind of crazy computer glitch just 'zap' it right out of existence forever. Gone. Never to be seen again. The experience is heartbreaking! I've had it happen to me quite a number of times in the past. Either the 'Save' function didn't work like it was supposed to, or the file got corrupted...my laptop fizzled out on me, or
Writing Tips - Skills

Grammar Rodeo #8

Ever wonder what the correct word to use is? Cia has written a blog entry to help show which word should be used in different instances. It's been a while since we had a Grammar Rodeo, but I find these posts to be rather informative and we hope you do too.   Commonly Misused Words   When writing, most authors know there are homophones to watch out for, and we all know the big ones like your/you’re/yore and there/their/they’re. But there are a lot of words that are harder to figure ou
Writing Tips - Skills

Cia's Torturing Me!

Cia’s Torturing Me!   If you’re an author, I’m sure you’ve thought that at least once, right? I swear, it’s nothing personal! GA’s posting system is complicated, and there is always a learning curve for new authors to figure out the ins and outs of posting here. I'm also the primary staff member that reviews the Stories submissions, so I am not picking on any one person if you receive more than one PM; I'm simply the staff member that reviews everything in the queue unless I am away from G
Cia

Cia in Writing Tips - Skills

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Writing Tips - Skills

Building a Team

Building A Team For this particular article, I will need some ideas and some feedback from the rest of you guys. Because I definitely know HOW to do this...but it’s not really a practice that I’ve really used myself since I’ve been writing stories online. I guess a part of me was simply too intimidated to really dive in, head first...and another part of me is just too selfish, hehehe...but I DO see the value in making this a part of the writing process and it might be helpful to all of us at
Writing Tips - Skills

Writing Tip: Flash Fiction - Why And How?

I thought, this week, that we’d discuss something we host here on GA, and promote weekly on the blog. Flash fiction, namely in the guise of our prompts. Our anthologies are an extension of that as well. But we’ve never really talked about the art of creating these types of short stories—so today we will! I think there are two main questions most people have: What is flash fiction and why do people write it?   FLASH FICTION   Flash fiction can also run the gamut of ‘regular fiction’.
Cia

Cia in Writing Tips - Skills

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Writing Tips - Skills

Getting Motivated

Sometimes...the hardest, most unbelievably difficult, part of any story...is the first five paragraphs! It is grueling, it is maddening, it is downright FRIGHTENING at times! And it's hard to really explain why that is to people who don't write all the time. It's a level of insanity that only writers and other artists will ever really know. Because this is the 'kickoff' when it comes to starting a new project. It's the equivalent of throwing the first punch in a fight. Like..."Ok! This is it! He
Writing Tips - Skills

Plagiarism

Plagiarism It was a very very long time ago but I can remember the whole issue vividly, because when I really sat down and gave it some deep thought...I was kind of conflicted about the idea. And maybe I still I am to a degree where it's still pretty hard to decide whether or not I'd be willing to say 'never say never'. And that had to do with a few Diet Coke commercials on TV and a rapidly growing technology that was suddenly brought to a screeching stop just as it was becoming something un
Writing Tips - Skills

Writing Tip: Grammar Rodeo #4

This time for the grammar rodeo, I thought I'd keep our subject matter simple and maybe even fun! Yes, yes, I swear, grammar can be fun--at least when you're like me and find a wicked glee in rolling your eyes at the grammar fails around you!! First, though, let's take a look at a technical writing tip that seems simple, but catches up more people than you might think! Grammar Rodeo #4 Getting It Write Err... Right!   Subject and Verb Agreement   No, I don't expect them to sha
Writing Tips - Skills

Writing Tip: Leaving Reviews

This is a first - normally we solicit articles or pull up things from the distant past, but for this week's blog article, I was looking around last Thursday and saw a personal blog that comicfan had written. As I read it, I went "Self - this is PERFECT." So after a little cajoling and offers of first-born puppies, I was able to steal borrow his blog to share it with all of you.   I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!   Leaving Reviews by comicfan   I noticed someone had commen
Trebs

Trebs in Writing Tips - Skills

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Writing Tips - Skills

Writing Tip: Stolen Stories! Blast From An Angry Author

Yep, I'm pre-empting Blast From the Past this week to inform members of a story that's been stolen from GA then put up for sale on Amazon. The story stolen was Chasing the Shadows by K.C. Grim and it was posted under Embraced by Shadows by K.J. Fleur back in May. We only found this out when a concerned reader emailed the admin account to find out if the story was stolen and posted on GA. That proved to have happened in the reverse, and KC had his story ripped off.   All this author did was cha
Cia

Cia in Writing Tips - Skills

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Writing Tips - Skills

Writing Tip: Author Feedback

For today's toss-up, Renee Stevens gives some good thoughts and important questions on author feedback. We hope you enjoy...   Author Feedback by Renee Stevens   Today, as our Toss-Up Tuesday, we'd like to focus on reviews, both negative and positive. It's no secret that many author's on site thrive for feedback. For myself, I absolutely love to get reviews, I'm sure my eyes light up when I see that little notification that I have a review waiting for my perusal.   I don't mi
Trebs

Trebs in Writing Tips - Skills

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Writing Tips - Skills

Writing Tip: Meaningless Words With A Purpose

Not everyone knows that GayAuthors.org has a number of sister websites - also operated by CDEJR Web Services Inc for various purposes. One of those sites, fictionstoriesonline.com is the source of today's blog and we thank FSO for allowing us to use it. Meaningless Words With A Purpose   What's a meaningless word? How could one have meaning? Well, I'm talking about interjections! What is an interjection really? Well, it's a word that doesn't have any part of speech but is put in a sent
Trebs

Trebs in Writing Tips - Skills

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Writing Tips - Skills

Common Editing Issues #1

I've received quite a few editing tips from our membership. Today, we're going to look at some provided by JayT. Enjoy!     There are three common editing issues that I come across frequently. They are punctuation (ie. missing commas, misused commas, and dialogue punctuation), misused words (ie nauseous instead of nauseated, then/than misused, they're, their, there misused), and sentences that don't read correctly and interrupt the flow of the story (they can be fragmented s
Writing Tips - Skills

Writing Tip: Best/worst Part I - Promising Authors

Many authors have had reviews in which they're just not sure how to respond. We've had reviews that tell us how much a reader has loved our stories and how they just can't wait for the next chapter or story to come out, but there's the other side that as an author we're not always sure how to handle. The purpose of this blog is to show how some of our promoted authors have dealt with some of their worst criticisms.   There was so much interest from our Promising and Signature Authors that I ha
Writing Tips - Skills

Writing Tip: Grammar Rodeo #1

Today's blog is courtesy of Cia! Ever wondered which is the correct word to use when faced with lay/lie? You're not alone and Cia has put together a very informative blog entry to help, it even includes tips and tricks for when you're really not sure. Thanks Cia for taking the time to give us Grammar Rodeo #1! Grammar Rodeo #1 Tips and Tricks for wrangling those Pesky Word Choices!   Who and Whom Okay, I hate this one, even though it’s relatively simple! Let’s make it easy: Who i
Writing Tips - Skills

Writing Tip: The Writing On The Wall

Is the proof in the pudding or do the results stand for themselves? Here is our favorite writing tip guru, Libby Drew, with "The Writing on the Wall" - how using clichés can weaken your writing. Enjoy!   The Writing on the Wall   A cliché is an expression, idea, or element of an artistic work which has become overused to the point of losing its original meaning or effect to the point of being trite or irritating, especially when at some earlier time it was considered meaningful or no
Writing Tips - Skills

Writing Tip: Keeping Your Writing Life In Sync (And Backed Up)

So many of us write from multiple computers and I know from personal experience that it can be a pain to try and transfer files back and forth between laptops/desktops/etc. Today, Myr is telling us about a great way to make our life easier when switching between computers!       Keeping Your Writing Life in Sync (and backed up)   In this day and age, many of us have multiple computers or devices that we use in our daily lives. For those of us that write, we could be writing i
Writing Tips - Skills

Writing Tip: Grammar Rodeo #5

I hope everyone is having a great week so far! As you can see, Cia has provided us with another Grammar Rodeo. Ever been confused by Present Tense Verbs vs. Past Tense Verbs? Cia gives us a guideline to help out with those pesky issues. In addition to Tense Verbs, Cia also helps out a bit with That vs. Who.   Past Tense Verbs While there are a variety of tenses to write in, I think the most common method is to use past tense. So today we’re going to talk about past tense verbs. For the most pa
Writing Tips - Skills

Writing Tip: Grammar Rodeo #2

Who's ready for another Grammar Rodeo? A big thanks to Cia for providing these for the blog. They are a great learning tool and include some great tips and tricks to help authors remember what is best to use. Hopefully you'll find Grammar Rodeo #2 as informative as I did! Grammar Rodeo #2 Those Pesky Word Choices       Past vs. Passed   This one is complicated when you consider the many, many variations of past. Past can be used as an adjective, a noun, a preposition, a
Writing Tips - Skills

Writing Tip: Grammar Rodeo #6

Who's ready for another Grammar Rodeo? Today's Grammar Rodeo is sorta a Part 2 of last weeks. A big thanks to Cia for providing these for the blog. They are a great learning tool and include some great tips and tricks to help authors remember what is best to use. Hopefully you'll find Grammar Rodeo #6 as informative as I did!   Grammar Rodeo #6   Plural Nouns   Last time we talked about plural verbs… now let’s talk about plural nouns. Remember how there are ‘regular’ forms and ‘irr
Writing Tips - Skills

Writing Tip: Copyright Infringment - Keeping It Legal

Every once in a while I like to take a look through the blog to see what has been used before that could be useful to some of the newer authors here on Gay Authors. Back in October 2012, Sara Alva (known then as KingdombytheSea) shared her experience with using song lyrics in her story Social Skills. Many authors use song lyrics in their stories without ever thinking of the repercussions that they may be facing if/when they decide to publish. I hope that Sara's experience helps some authors here
Writing Tips - Skills

Leave Room for Readers

One thing that I have always loved about writing stories is the idea that I can finally allow my mind and my emotions to exist in a world that I, alone, can actually control! Hehehe, and that probably sounds pretty narcissistic, but it's the truth. In the worlds that I create, the shy guy can get their first kiss from the prettiest boy on the block. The lovable 'friend zone' kid can get the boy of his dreams to finally see him for the perfect mate that he is. Justice is always served where neede
Writing Tips - Skills

Writing Tip: How To Be Critical, Not Cutting

It's a fine line between being critical in an effort to help a writer, and going too far and just being very cutting in what you say. In a text medium, it's usually hard to hear the "voice" that the criticism is being given. I mean sometimes, the voice comes through loud and clear, like when your friend comes up to you in a new outfit and you're all "Oh no you didn't - girl, you is a hot mess!" (did everyone else hear that in Layfayette voice from True Blood?)   Anyways - Cia as always has som
Trebs

Trebs in Writing Tips - Skills

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Writing Tips - Skills

Writing Tip: Adverbs And Adjectives ~ Helping Or Hurting

Happy Wednesday everyone! I hope everyone is having a great week so far. I was looking through the possible posts that I had for today and I decided that it's been a while since we had a grammar lesson. Wouldn't you know it, I actually had one sitting around, just waiting for an opportunity to be showcased in the blog! So, without further ado, here's today's writing tip, courtesy of Cia. Enjoy! Adverbs and Adjectives ~ Helping or Hurting by Cia   Today I want to focus on wa
Writing Tips - Skills

Grammar Rodeo #9

It's been a while since we had a Grammar Rodeo from Cia, but this month that feature has returned. Let's see what Cia has to say about.... NUMBERS!   Let’s talk numbers! 01 001 1 100 0... no that’s not what I mean. LOL One of the subtle details that refines writing is how an author addresses numbers. Let’s face it, you can’t write anything at length without running into this issue because our lives are dictated by things like time and money.   Numbers in Fiction   Numbers at the begi
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