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  • Review: Battle Tactics in Brandon Sanderson’s The Way of Kings

    Review: Battle Tactics in Brandon Sanderson’s The Way of Kings

    If you’ve read my previous article on battlefield tactics, you’ve probably realized by now that I just can’t leave the topic alone. So here’s another article on battlefield tactics – but this time I want to talk about tactics done right. I first read Brandon Sanderson’s Way of Kings last summer (along with the other […]

    maygraingerbooks

    June 14, 2022
    Writing
    Battle, Battle Strategy, Objectives, Tactics, Technology, Terrain, Worldbuilding, Writing, Writing Advice
  • Reader is Always Right: 3 Questions to Ask Your Beta Readers to Make Your Writing Better

    Reader is Always Right: 3 Questions to Ask Your Beta Readers to Make Your Writing Better

    Now you might be confused when you read this title and think: Isn’t that the opposite of what you said in an article last month? Why yes, yes it is. That article was about how to approach worldbuilding, as well as telling your own story. The long and the short of it: You are the […]

    maygraingerbooks

    June 9, 2022
    Writing
    Beta Readers, Critiques, How to get the most out of beta readers, Reader Expectations, Responding to Critiques, Writing, Writing Advice
  • Punctuation in Dialogue Tags: 4 Guidelines for Correct Punctuation in Dialogue

    Punctuation in Dialogue Tags: 4 Guidelines for Correct Punctuation in Dialogue

    Full disclosure: I’m a nitpicker. Or, in a more flattering light, you could say I’ve got an eye for detail. This was only encouraged during my college days (farewell oh my college days of five weeks ago) as a writing center tutor, and also being in a major that highly emphasized technical writing. I mean, […]

    maygraingerbooks

    June 7, 2022
    Writing
    Dialogue, Dialogue Tags, Grammar Advice, How to edit, How to write dialogue, Punctuation, Writing, Writing Advice
  • 5 Tips to Making the Most out of a Writers Conference

    5 Tips to Making the Most out of a Writers Conference

    I am at a writers conference!!!!!!! (In case you can’t tell, I’m excited) The conference I’m at is the Blue Ridge Mountains Christian Writers Conference, or BRMCWC for short (not that the acronym is much shorter than the actual name). It’s an annual conference of about 500 writers who identify as Christian/write Christian pieces to […]

    maygraingerbooks

    May 31, 2022
    Writing
    Conference Advice, Writer's Life, Writers Conference
  • How to Write Compelling Battlefield Tactics: 3 Things to Consider Before Your Characters Grab Their Swords

    How to Write Compelling Battlefield Tactics: 3 Things to Consider Before Your Characters Grab Their Swords

    You know how you have a couple topics that you’ll pick apart when you see other writers writing them wrong? Me. This topic. I’ve seen too many writers consider battle just to be a huge clash between opposing forces and not consider even the tiniest little bit battlefield tactics and strategy. Now, I’m not a […]

    maygraingerbooks

    May 28, 2022
    Writing
    Battle, Battle Strategy, Tactics, War, Worldbuilding, Writing, Writing Advice
  • Inspiration For Authors #1: Crinoids

    Inspiration For Authors #1: Crinoids

    Have you ever run into something so cool that you just had to scream about it and/or include it in one of your stories? That’s essentially what this “inspiration” thread is for. Don’t mind me as I geek out😊 My first post is on crinoids! You might know them better as sea lilies (photo above), […]

    maygraingerbooks

    May 26, 2022
    Writing
    Cool Facts, Crinoids, inspiration, My stories, Worldbuilding, Writing
  • Fulfilling Promises: 3 Tips to Make the Reader Come Back for More

    Fulfilling Promises: 3 Tips to Make the Reader Come Back for More

    The last time I talked about plot, I discussed making promises – this time, I’m going to go over the different ways you want to fulfill those promises. As a reminder, a promise is when a writer tells the reader, implicitly or explicitly, what to expect. If a child knows their mother is bringing them […]

    maygraingerbooks

    May 23, 2022
    Writing
    How to fulfill promises, How to write plot, Plot, Promises, Writing, Writing Advice
  • Desire: The Heart of Writing Compelling Characters

    Desire: The Heart of Writing Compelling Characters

    May 21, 2022 Desire is at the heart of any action humans take. We want so we act so as to achieve that want. I’m hungry. I want to impress her. I want to be a good human being. Okay, so I might be exaggerating a bit when I say any action, and I’m certainly […]

    maygraingerbooks

    May 21, 2022
    Writing
    Characters, Desire, How to increase tension, How to write characters, Tension, Writing, Writing Advice
  • Author is Always Right: Own Your Story’s Worldbuilding

    Author is Always Right: Own Your Story’s Worldbuilding

    May 19, 2022 Look around. Have you ever noticed how much of a crazily interconnected world we live in? We live in a world where, if you over fish, then the orcas eat the sea otters. Without the sea otters, the sea urchins multiply. The sea urchins eat the kelp forests. And as the kelp […]

    maygraingerbooks

    May 19, 2022
    Writing
    Worldbuilding, Writing, Writing Advice
  • Promises, Promises: Increasing Reader Investment in Stories

    Promises, Promises: Increasing Reader Investment in Stories

    May 17, 2022 I promise to bring you back a cupcake. Imagine a five-year-old, sitting by the window and waiting for her mom to come home and hold out that cupcake—white swirls of icing with green sprinkles. Maybe chocolate, maybe vanilla. Or what if it’s something special, like red velvet? Then the mom comes back. […]

    maygraingerbooks

    May 17, 2022
    Writing
    How to write plot, Plot, Promises, Writing, Writing Advice
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