Category Archives: Writing

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Personal Traits in Your Characters #IWSG

heatherericksonauthorWritingJuly 3, 2019

It’s the 1st Wednesday of the month again. That’s when I take part in Alex J. Cavanaugh’s Insecure Writer’s Support Group. Thank you to this month’s IWSG co-hosts for the July 3 posting of the IWSG: Erika Beebe, Natalie Aguirre, Jennifer Lane, MJ Fifield, Lisa Buie-Collard, and Ellen @ The Cynical Sailor! Today I’ll be talking about the inspiration for personal traits in the characters I write as I answer this month’s optional IWSG question:What personal traits have you written into your character(s)?For this month’s question, I will formulate my answers using the only fiction work I’ve completed, “The Nature of Murder”. I haven’t finished the final Read more…

Nitty Gritty Grammar Lesson: Diseases

heatherericksonauthorWritingJune 26, 2019

Today in our Nitty Gritty Grammar Lesson we will be looking at diseases and grammar. Before we go there, I’d like to share what a Nitty Gritty Grammar Lesson is.Google’s online dictionary defines “Nitty Gritty” this way:the most important aspects or practical details of a subject or situation.“let’s get down to the nitty-gritty of finding a job”The Minneapolis Star and Tribune[1] Published this article about the top 10 reasons good grammar is important.Beyond High SchoolIt seems that by the time we are old enough to recognize the importance of good grammar and admit that our own grammar skills might be lacking, we Read more…

What Genre do You Like Best? #IWSG

heatherericksonauthorWritingJune 5, 2019

It’s the 1st Wednesday of the month again. That’s when I take part in Alex J. Cavanaugh’s Insecure Writer’s Support Group. Thank you to this month’s IWSG co-hosts: Diane Burton, Kim Lajevardi, Sylvia Ney, Sarah Foster, Jennifer Hawes, and Madeline Mora-Summonte! Today I’ll be talking about genre as I answer June 5th’s optional IWSG Day Question:Of all the genres you read and write, which is your favorite to write in and why?Sci-Fi Genre with Dystopian ElementsThere are 3 genres I enjoy writing. Even though I don’t read a lot of it, sci-fi is one of my favorites, particularly those with dystopian elements. They are Read more…

CaringBridge is a Powerful Medium #IWSG

heatherericksonauthorBlogging, Cancer Information, WritingMay 1, 2019

It’s the 1st Wednesday of the month again. That’s when I take part in Alex J. Cavanaugh’s Insecure Writer’s Support Group. Thank you to this month’s IWSG co-hosts: Lee Lowery, Juneta Key, Yvonne Ventresca, and T. Powell Coltrin! Today I will be writing about my experience writing about my husband’s cancer journey on his CaringBridge blog, as I answer the IWSG Day question for May:What was an early experience where you learned that language had power?Maybe it doesn’t qualify as an early experience, but it has by far, been the experience with the most impact. I always loved writing, but I didn’t know if other Read more…

Finding the “Wow” Factor with Pain Points

heatherericksonauthor2019 A to Z Challenge, Get Creative!, WritingApril 26, 2019

Mills & Boon have been publishing romance novels for over a hundred years, yet it was an unknown self-published author, E. L. James, who hit the best seller list with her “50 Shades of Grey.” For millions of people around the world, it had the “WOW” factor. Somehow it has hit an important known (or unknown) need or want, also known as “pain points.” That’s a little bit of wordplay for readers familiar with the book’s premise.Think a challenge your ideal user is facing.What are their biggest pain points?What would really “wow” them?The A to Z Blogging ChallengeI’m doing double Read more…

Advice for Action Scenes – #IWSG

heatherericksonauthorWritingApril 3, 2019

It’s the 1st Wednesday of the month again. That’s when I take part in Alex J. Cavanaugh’s Insecure Writer’s Support Group. The amazing co-hosts for April 3 IWSG are: J.H. Moncrieff, Natalie Aguirre, Patsy Collins, and Chemist Ken! This month, I’m talking about action scenes. The IWSG Day question for April is:If you could use a wish to help you write just ONE scene/chapter of your book, which one would it be? (examples: fight scene / first kiss scene / death scene / chase scene / first chapter / middle chapter / end chapter, etc.)Action scenes are really hard for me. I don’t even watch action Read more…

Assessing My Writing

heatherericksonauthorWritingMarch 27, 2019

Have you ever assessed your writing and who you are as a writer? Recently, Creative Writing Now sent out a Writer’s Assessment Worksheet to their e-mail list (which I happen to be on). Here are my answers:What kind of writer would you like to be?I want to be the kind of writer whose work people don’t want to put down. I want to write fascinating characters whose lives are transformed by the end of the book. Of course, this question is really trying to ferret out my genre of choice. Mystery/suspense novels of a historical nature are what I really Read more…

Brainsparker App : App Review

heatherericksonauthorGet Creative!, Reviews, WritingMarch 13, 2019

As a writer, it’s essential for me to have a constant spark of creativity. So, whenever a tool comes along that helps generate ideas, I have to try it out. I’m excited to share my favorite creativity app with you. It is called the brainsparker app. I can’t think of a better name for it. “Brainsparker is a creativity app designed to spark your imagination, disrupt your routine thinking and trigger your brain to come up with new ideas and better solutions.”What I love about the brainsparker appThe brainsparker app is easy to use and it puts creativity at your fingertips. You Read more…

My Book Review Template

heatherericksonauthorReviews, WritingMarch 6, 2019

As I wrap up my series on how to write a review, I want to share my favorite tool with you, as well as tell you how I use it. It’s a review template. This particular template is for a fiction book review, although I’ve included a couple of questions for nonfiction books at the bottom of the list. Feel free to copy this template and use it. I encourage you to create your own template to match your own personal style. You could make one for nonfiction books, one for fiction, one for physical products, one for services, etc.The template Read more…

How to Write a Book Review: The Basics

heatherericksonauthorReviews, WritingFebruary 27, 2019

Writing a review doesn’t have to be intimidating. All you’re really doing is sharing your opinion about a book, product, or service. Today we’re going to look more in-depth at how to write a book review. We will look at the different styles of book reviews you can write. Some people use a variety of styles, depending on how they feel about the book they are reviewing. Others prefer to stick with one style.How to write a book review at it most basicWe have all seen book reviews that say, “I loved this book! The characters were great.” Or, on Read more…