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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!

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Writing Tips

Writing Tip: How To Find A Beta

So, a couple of weeks ago we talked about what an author should look for in a Beta Reader. I thought that today we could maybe talk about how to FIND a Beta Reader. There are many ways to go about it, but here are just a few! You could always post in your Chapter Note or Chapter End notes that you are currently looking for a beta reader! I wouldn’t personally put everything I want from a Beta Reader in there, but you could always tell your readers that if they are interested in beta reading for
Prompts

Writing Prompts #142 & #143

It's Friday AND it's JUNE!!! Be sure to change your calender (people still use calenders, don't they?!?) and then settle down and try one of our prompts, supplied by the ever inventive Comicfan. Be sure to share what you do with the community in the Writing Prompts forum!   Prompt 142 – Creative Cue – First Line “Because … how could you not know this was done to me?”   Prompt 143 – Creative Cue – Superhero Don’t they only exist in comics? Who expected to run into a real life superhero? What
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Prompts

Writing Prompts #140 & #141

Friday - start (for me) of a three day weekend! Hope you enjoy your weekend but first, our weekly writing prompts, thanks to the genius of ComicFan.   Our prompts this week are: Prompt 140 – Creative Cue – The Date This wasn’t what you expected when you finally agreed to go out. You figured maybe a movie and dinner but that isn’t you got. Who could have expected this on a date? So what did happen?   Prompt 141 – Creative Cue – Elements Life is created by the elements around us from the eleme
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Writing Tips

Writing Tip: Ingy Verbs

Ingy Verbs - Where They Don't Belong by Cia   Interesting title, no? I thought it was better than if I hit you with 'Present Participle Phrases Do Not Belong at the Beginning of a Sentence' because that's just confusing right? I mean, who remembers what those grammar rules and names were for all the little bits of a sentence? *puts hand down* Soooo not me. So, if you're like me and it has been a long time since you took grammar lessons in school, I'm going to go with laymen's terms
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Writing Tips

Writing Tip: From Imagination To Publication

Today we look at a writing Tips by VLista... That still hold true today! This was from the December 2006 newsletter. From Imagination to Publication Steps every writer should know   You never know when it’s going to hit. You could be lying in bed trying to sleep, at the movies with your friends or family, driving down a long stretch of highway.   Oftentimes, when you least expect it, your brain starts moving at a rapid pace, formulating and creating an idea for your next master
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Prompts

Writing Prompts #138 & #139

So, it's Friday again! That means that we're bringing you two more prompts from Comicfan! We're glad to see so many people trying out the prompts! Remember, share what you do (and see what others are doing) in our Writing Prompts forum.   Prompt 138 – Creative Cue – The Sleeper You volunteered for the experiment figuring with the disaster your life was, two years asleep in the cryo-tank might allow some changes to happen allowing you to fix everything. While you were sleeping massive changes o
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Prompts

Site Tip: Reviewing For The Blog!

So, you may have noticed that we are asking the members of GA to do reviews on stories that they have enjoyed. You may have even thought, “Oh, I should do a review on…” but there is still something that holds you back from doing a review to be featured on the blog. You might even think that the story you just read might not be one we are looking for. Well, forget that worry! We want all stories!!! Hosted, Promising, Author, Poet, New Authors, Old Authors, even the old anthologies! Or perhaps you
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Prompts

Writing Prompts #136 & #137

Friday! Time to jump in and try a new prompt, with our most sincere thanks to ComicFan!   Prompt 136 – Challenge Cue – The Family Caretaker You almost laugh as you read the century old book. Who knew that someone would write stories about tattoos coming to life or electric grandmothers who never die? Little did that author know how close he would come to the truth that you live with every day. You shiver as you turn to face the family caretaker, who might live forever but isn’t the sweet kindl
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Writing Tips

Writing Tip: What To Look For... In A Beta Reader

So, you’ve written your story, and you’ve even found an editor to help point out all those pesky missed commas and misspelled words. That’s it, right? I mean, what else could you possibly need? How about, a Beta reader!   A good beta/author relationship is worth its weight in gold. If you do decide to find a beta reader, be forewarned that it might take you a couple tries before you find one that you really mesh with. I personally have had countless beta readers before finding my current team
Writing Tips

Writing Tip: Editing - Getting Started

So it's time to look at something that a lot of us probably never saw! Today we're bringing you a little gem that was published in one of GA's old newsletters. Have you offered to edit for someone and receive the first chapter only to realize that you have no clue where to start? If so, this editing tip could be very beneficial to you! Even if you don't currently edit, it's still a helpful tidbit full of good advice! Editing Tips...Getting Started   Volume 2: Edition 1 October 2006  
Prompts

Writing Prompts #134 & #135

FRIDAY!!! Not only the end of the work week for many, it's also the day that we get to see new prompts that might stretch our creative muscles. As always, we thank ComicFan for these two new prompts:   Prompt 134 – Creative Cue – Word list Use the following words in a story: Gravesite, balloons, pregnant woman, cold cereal, and an old book.   Prompt 135 – Creative Cue – The Legacy There is a child in every generation chosen to inherit the family legacy. It is no easy task and while the rewar
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Writing Tips

Writing Tip: Life In The Fishbowl

We asked for tips - and you responded! Here is K.C.'s tip on Life in the Fishbowl! Do you have one that we can feature? If so, let Renee Stevens or myself know.   Life in the Fishbowl by K.C.   As I swim around Gay Authors, I see a wide range of different users here. Those who write put a great deal of time, effort and themselves into bringing amazing and entertaining stories to the GA community. Those who read have the opportunity to talk to the writers, to comment on th
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Writing Tips

Writing Tip: Pleonasm

For Tip Tuesday we are bringing you another interesting little tid bit that is brought to you by Cia. Enjoy and we'd love to hear your thoughts. Pleonasm More weird writing terminology   So here's another weird word to describe a common writing mistake. A 'pleonasm' is a phrase where redundant words are used to express the meaning of the sentence. Like... a free gift. A gift is always free, because it is given to you. So obviously the use of the word 'free' is redundant but so co
Prompts

Writing Prompts #130 & #131

Even though we paused our news blog last week, the prompts continued on schedule. So *that* means - we have FOUR prompts to showcase today. As usual, ComicFan is our source of all of this wonderful promptyness...   Prompt 130 – Creative Cue – The Call You have lived your whole life in the same town, however with each passing year you have felt a desire to move. Always you head in the same direction. Now you are legally an adult and the money you have saved manically for the past few years is g
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Writing Tips

Writing Tip: Character Building

Interesting characters are usually one of the most important elements of good writing. That's why this great tip by CassieQ is a welcome addition to our GA News Blog. If you have a great tip that you'd like to share with the community, let me or Renee Stevens know.   Character Building by CassieQ   To be 100% honest, writing about characters was hard. Characterization is something that always seemed to flow naturally, so trying to take it apart and explain the mechanics o
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Writing Tips

Writing Tip: Brainstorming Past Your Block

Brainstorming Past Your Block   Especially when writing a short story, there will often come a time in your plot when you get stuck. One of the best ways to move past a block in the action is to brainstorm what could happen. Then... pick one! Often when I'm trying to figure out the loose overall plot I will do a 'this happens, then that, then this' in a timeline fashion. Sometimes I can't figure out what I want to have happen next and that's when I start brainstorming. I'll do this on my
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Writing Tips

Writing Tip: The Editing Process

So - glancing over some of the past newsletters, I found this gem from Feb 2007, about editing from a writer's perspective. I hope you enjoy!   Editors and Writers   The Editing Process: From the Writer’s Point of View By Talon Rider   Finding an editor can be a problem sometimes. You think to yourself, where can I find someone? Do I ask another author who they use? Do I post something in a forum somewhere? Has an editor made their presence known? Either one of those methods may
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Prompts

Writing Prompts #128 & #129

Today we bring you two new prompts from Comicfan. While they both look like they're going to be interesting, I think "The Sexes" is going to provide quite the challenge! Enjoy!   Prompt 128 – Creative Cue – Word List Use the following words in a story: fog, bus, newspaper, coffee roll, and toilet paper.   Prompt 129 – Creative Cue – The Sexes Science has always said that there would be new species added as time went on and as Mother Nature needed change. What wasn’t expected was that the hum
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Writing Tips

Writing Tip: Synonyms

Synonyms   In writing, especially when doing character pieces, you need to watch for repetition. The words used when writing can give clues to accurately express how the character appears or acts depending on what synonym is used. Physical cues are very important when it comes to showing and not telling. However, using the same word repeatedly is boring. Below are a few common actions and examples of synonyms you can use to highlight them in different ways.   Expression: noun-outward ap
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Writing Tips

Writing Tip: Setting "the Scene"

Today's Tip is brought to you by our prompt guru, Comicfan. Thank you for this wonderful little lesson on setting the scene for a story! If YOU have a tip for a future blog entry, let Trebs or Renee Stevens know!   The Scene by Comicfan   Ever notice how important a scene is? I don’t mean the action; I mean that place it is located in. Sometimes it can add to the overall sense of what is happening or it can make it a tragedy. It isn’t very hard to have a story go wrong by the
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Prompts

Writing Prompts #126 & #127

Good Friday! Happy Passover! Or that great catch all - TGIF!!!   I recently chatted with someone who said they couldn't write - they thought they did well on email and documents for work, but trying to write a story was something they thought beyond their skill. I have to say, ESPECIALLY for that type of person, these writing prompts are the perfect way to just experiment and try seeing what you are capable of.   ComicFan has given us two great new prompts - I really hope you try one of them
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Writing Tips

Writing Tip: Writing For Technical Geeks

For today's tip - we have a great writeup by Myr that we hope will be useful to you as an author. If you have a tip you think the community would find useful, please let Trebs or Renee Stevens know!   Writing for Technical Geeks by Myr   As many know, I'm a rather technical person by nature. It is in my blood to research stuff into the ground so that I can understand all the angles of a thing. I think and rethink on things all the time. It is thus when I went into a writing blo
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Writing Tips

Writing Tip: Blogging For Exposure

How to get more traffic to your stories is frequently something author's are concerned about. What use is it to write a fantastic story, if people don't know about it. Here is one way - Cia writes about blogging as a way to increase your exposure. Check out her tip and let us know what you think! Also, if YOU have a tip, let me know. It may be one we feature on a future news blog entry.   Blogging for Exposure by Cia   Do you blog? I didn't until about 3 months ago. I've writin
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Writing Tips

Writing Tip: Editing

I love looking back over older GA Newsletters. This gem about editing was published in the December 2006 issue - but is still very relevant today. I hope you enjoy!   Editing Tips... How Far Should You Go?   There can be little doubt that editing is an extremely complicated process. Sure, anyone with basic literacy skills and a spellchecker can read through a story and correct spelling and grammatical mistakes. It's not exactly brain surgery. Yes, it takes a certain degree of skill a
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Prompts

Writing Prompts #124 & #125

Happy Friday (and for those who celebrate, Happy Cesar Chavez Day)!   ComicFan has come up with two new prompts - I hope you give at least one of them a try. If you do, share them with the community in the Writing Prompts forum.   Prompt 124 – Creative Cue – The Mystery You have been having a nice walk with your dog along the beach when your dog suddenly begins barking and tugging you toward pier. Deciding it is still a move back toward your car you allow the dog to lead you under the pier.
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