April Davila - Author
Back when I was doing final revisions on my first novel, I found a small plot hole. It was nothing major, but one of my beta readers noticed it (thanks Summer!) and I couldn't decide what to do about it. It wasn't a big enough issue that I wanted to … [Continue reading] about Hang a Lantern on Your Plot Problems
The older I get, the more I recognize my writing brain and my editing brain as two distinct parts of myself. Writing Brain My writing brain is creative. It has all kinds of crazy ideas. This is the brain I need engaged when I'm working on a … [Continue reading] about Writing Brain and Editing Brain
A while back I wrote this blog post on 7 Tips for Working With Beta Readers, and I recently had a conversation that inspired me to add a few more thoughts on the topic. Consider this a bonus round. The conversation was with a client who, since … [Continue reading] about Working With Beta Readers (Bonus Round)
My husband told ChatGPT to write hip-hop lyrics about ostriches in the style of Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg. It wrote a whole song in a matter of seconds: Verse 1 (Dr. Dre): Yo, check it out, we're talkin' ostriches, These big ol' birds, they're so … [Continue reading] about Talkin’ ‘Bout the ‘Trich
Worrying about how people will respond to our writing can be paralyzing. In fact, it's number two on my list of things that masquerade as "writer's block." And make no mistake, fear of judgment is a powerful thing, even for those of us who insist we … [Continue reading] about Fear of Judgment
Your voice as a writer consists of the specific ways in which you tell stories. It's made up of the words you choose, the way you structure your sentences, the overall tone of your prose. It's what makes your writing uniquely yours. I like to think … [Continue reading] about Cultivate Your Voice as a Writer
One of the best lessons I learned by doing NaNoWriMo was that I can absolutely write faster than I ever thought I could. All it took was one simple thing to quadruple my writing speed. Who knew? Any Writing is Good Writing Years … [Continue reading] about How to Write Faster