There are certain activities I like to use a pen and paper for. Brainstorming is a big one for me. Has to be done on paper where I can draw circles and arrows and connecting lines. Plot analysis is another. I think physically touching the paper helps me pin down what is in my head. [...]

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Intro note: Sadly, this is Jordan’s last scheduled blog with Routines for Writers. What an informative month we’ve had picking her brain about how to improve our writing craft, particularly in the context of scenes! Thank you so much, Jordan! I’ve enjoyed getting to know you through your book, these blogs, and the emails we’ve sent back and forth. [...]

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In the realm of fiction, it’s easy to forget that characters are people too. Put another way, when I was in my graduate writing program, the tough and lovely author, Elizabeth Cox, who sat in on three of my four semesters’ writing workshops, always had this to say: Are your characters real to you? Because [...]

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Intro note: Way back in October when I (Shonna) was preparing for NaNoWriMo I posted some of the books I planned to keep by the computer for inspiration on that month-long writing extravaganza. Jordan E. Rosenfeld’s book Make a Scene was there. It was a new book I’d never seen in the writing section before and I was [...]

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