Useful Writing Tools

Hey, SE Readers. Joan with you today. You’ve probably heard the terms planner, plotter, and panster. Some writers must have a detailed outline before writing the first word of a novel. Others write by the seat of their pants and let the story (or characters) determine what happens. I’m somewhere between. When I begin a …

What to Do With Books That Are Insensitive to Social Norms

  Hi SEers, John here with you today. The last time we were together, I talked about sensibilities in writing. I made the point that authors should be careful when writing characters of a specific race, gender, age, nationality, and sexual orientation because of changing social norms. I also stated that I didn't believe writers …

Research – Love It or Hate It

Hey, SE Readers. Joan with you today.  I have a confession to make. When I first began writing fiction, I hated to do research. I didn’t want to bother with such mundane tasks. Once I even wrote a blog post titled “Research, A Necessary Evil.”  I’m not sure why I had such an aversion. I’ve …

Writing Motivation Ideas for Using or for Laughing

Hi SEers, it’s John with you again. As you know from some of my past posts, I’m always trying to think of ways to suggest staying motivated as a writer. It’s not that I believe writers aren’t motivated, but sometimes our attention gets drawn to other things, and we have to get back on track. …

Do You Participate in Prompts? Maybe You Should

Hi, John here with you SEers. First of all, I wish you all a Happy Presidents Day on behalf of the Story Empire team. If you are allowed the time off, I hope you have a wonderful day. If not, at least it is a good time to remember the leaders of our country who …