Category Archives: Blog

Why “thing” weakens your writing (and how to fix it)

Small words can have a big impact on your story, and not always for the right reasons. One of those small words is “things”. 

Why “decide” weakens your writing (and how to fix it)

Is “decide” weakening your writing? This small word can slow pacing, strip emotional depth, and trap you in telling rather than showing. My latest blog post shows how focusing on actions, rather than decisions, creates more engaging scenes.

Writing a travel memoir can be cathartic

The travel and adventure genre has many sub genres, and one of the most challenging to write is memoir. Writing a memoir can be a kind of therapy or catharsis, and writing a memoir set around a trip you took adds another layer of complexity.

How to include flashbacks in your writing

Flashbacks send readers back in time to events that happened outside your story’s “present”. Knowing how to nudge your readers in the right direction will keep readers engaged, instead of having them go “huh?”

How long should your book be? A word count guide for travel and adventure writers

The short answer: as long as it needs to be. While this is a vague answer, understanding word counts can make the difference between readers finishing your book or abandoning it half way through.  Let’s discuss why your word count matters, look at some examples, and look at ways to reduce your word count whenContinue reading “How long should your book be? A word count guide for travel and adventure writers”

How to write scientific names for animals, plants, and fungi

As an adventure writer, you probably don’t often use scientific naming in your stories, but occasionally you might want to use the scientific name of a creature that you come across during your travels.

Here is how those names are formatted.