Derek Haines

Writers and authors are always looking for new ideas, and that’s where plot generators can help. Unlike a writing prompt, which gives you a starting point, plotting tools can give you a beginning, middle, and end. It’s like creating an outline of a story, but much faster than writing one yourself. Yes, writing a story…

Your writing voice is how you express yourself and your ideas in writing. It’s about your sentence structures, vocabulary choices, attitude, and even your personal views. Like speaking, it’s not about what you say, but how you say it. That’s what makes your voice unique. When you understand your voice and learn to accept and…

When you want to describe the sea or ocean in a novel, don’t write a report; write a scene. What’s the difference? “The sea was rough, and the wind was strong.” This is a report, not unlike a television weather report. Now, here’s a quick example of a scene. “Waves rose in jagged, angry white…

Poor or repetitive vocabulary choices can get on a reader’s nerves, with literally and actually being possibly the two worst offenders. While both adverbs have a limited use for additional emphasis or clarifying facts, they have gradually become overused and unnecessary exaggerations. You come across these two words frequently on social media, as well as…

To be honest, the terms filtering in writing and filter verbs were new to me. I came across the terms in a few Reddit posts, which made me curious. When I understood the concept, the best I could relate it to was the idea of show, don’t tell, and narrative distance. But as a contemporary…