By DiAnn Mills @DiAnnMills Who doesn’t love the huggable, honey-eating Winnie-the-Pooh of Hundred Acre Wood? His gentle voice and whimsical ways have delighted the hearts of young and old since English author A. A. Milne created Pooh and E. H. Shephard illustrated him in 1926. Walt Disney saw Pooh Bear’s potential and in 1961 licensed some of the film rights …
April 27 – National Tell a Story Day
By DiAnn Mills @DiAnnMills Tuesday, April 27 is National Tell a Story Day. Listeners, readers, and writers share a bond—we love a wonderful story. For centuries we’ve been thrilled with character and plot in a world that is often different from our own. Our imaginations explode when stories come to life. Stories help us see a reflection of ourselves. Since …
5 Ways To Choose a Writing Project
By DiAnn Mills @DiAnnMills Writers have a plethora of writing project ideas from which to choose. Life is full of words and scenarios that refuse to let us go—overheard conversations, history, local and worldwide events, movies, and other publications. Even when we dream, we are filling our imagination with ways to form our words into sentences, paragraphs, pages, and books. …
Does God’s Plan Feel Like a Mystery Novel?
By DiAnn Mills @DiAnnMills Ever feel like God’s plan for our lives is a futile attempt to solve a mystery? Our days are spent looking for clues in everything we experience. Is this God’s plan for me? What does this Scripture passage mean? Is God listening to my prayers? Nights are worse because we replay and stumble through the day’s …
Are You Cut Out to Write a Novel?
By DiAnn Mills @DiAnnMills We’ve all wondered if we’re cut out to write a novel. We experience an unusual or exciting event and ask ourselves, “Could I write a story about this?” Sometimes we dwell on it for days, weeks, months, and even years, still asking ourselves the same question. Why not take a novelist writing quiz to see if …
7 Reasons We Love Stories
By DiAnn Mills @DiAnnMills Thousands of stories are released each year. So many wonderful and amazing books, and we’ll never be able to read them all. But we try. What’s the fascination for story? Why do we crave the next novel and the next? Here are 7 reasons we love story. Entertainment is the number one reason we love story. …
Strong Women in Fiction
By Katie Briggs @DiAnnMills This week’s blog post is written by Katie Briggs Think of your top ten favorite characters in literature and cinema. How many are women? If you’re like me, your number of leading men outweighs your favorite ladies. Even worse, you might also be a writer and find female characters difficult to create! So, I asked my …
How Cooking Makes Me a Better Writer
By DiAnn Mills @DiAnnMills I love to cook and bake. It’s relaxing, satisfying, and hopefully the results are tasty. I’ve discovered my passion for writing has a lot in common with food prep. In fact, cooking makes me a better writer. Look at the following, and I think you’ll understand what I mean. Decide on a recipe Just like I …
DiAnn Teaching 6-Week Online Workshop On The Dance of Character and Plot
DiAnn will be teaching a 6 week online workshop with Savvy Authors based on information she’s compiled in a book with the same name THE DANCE OF CHARACTER AND PLOT. The workshop will begin 9-4-17 and conclude 10-15-17. To learn more and to register: CLICK HERE Online Workshop Description: Rhythm, grace, and beauty describe a dance where two people move …
Favorite TV Shows from a Writer’s Perspective
By DiAnn Mills @DiAnnMills I’m always looking for a solid TV show, one that entertains while I’m learning from the writers. This blog is totally from my perspective as a writer. Solid entertainment in a TV show must have the following: Three dimensional characters. Inner and outer landscape problems – even if it takes several weeks or the whole series …