Author Heather McCorkle

RWA was amazing! I had an excellent signing at the Kensington author signing, and a great time wearing my City Owl Press editor hat the remainder of the time. The atmosphere was fantastic and the people even better. If you have never been to RWA's big conference, I highly recommend it. Thank you SO much to all the fantastic readers that came to the signing! Here are a few pics from it:

In the vacuum created by the loss of our favorite chat years ago, a friend, Tee Tate , and I created the #WritersRoad. We also have a Facebook group , though the live chat occurs on Twitter (via Tweetdeck is one of the easiest apps to use). Tee and I co-host this chat every other Monday night on Twitter at 6:00pm Pacific Standard Time (9:00pm for our east coast friends). We chat about everything related to the writer's road. We decide on a topic based on the needs of our chatters (suggestions are welcome on both Twitter and our Facebook group) and we announce it the weekend before on Twitter. On the off weeks that we don't chat, we engage in #WordWar (still using the #WritersRoad hashtag as well), an hour long writing sprint where we check in at the end with out word count and encourage each other along the way. We often have outstanding guests be they authors, agents, editors, or another type of publishing industry professionals. This is a great opportunity to networ...

Staying motivated to keep writing can be tough for many of us. We have lives that demand our time, jobs, families, exercise, shopping, paying bills, the list goes on and on. It can be easy to lose site of our writing goals and fall by the wayside. We start out a few days behind, then it turns into a week behind, then a month, and can spiral out of control from there until we never finish our novel. To help myself stay motivated I set small, achievable goals. The size of your goal should reflect your writing time and ability, so that you don't fail continually and lose enthusiasm because of it. Even better than goals though is a counter, a way to record and monitor my progress with a physical thing that I update and see every single day. Watching the line move up toward my goal is a huge motivator. For a counter of your own follow this simple method. Copy and paste the following HTML code onto your blog or website by adding a gadget, then clicking on Add HTML. Within this code a...

Heather McCorkle   @ HeatherMcCorkle What are some of your favorite novels, shows, or movies that achieve this? # WritersRoad Chris Ledbetter   @ Chris_Ledbetter My last WIP had an ensemble and a 1st POV MC. My 1st concern was how to intro each character. # WritersRoad J B Mills   @ jbeemills @ AllisonDuke I always seem to end up loving the secondary characters more. Not always a good thing. # writersroad Allison Duke   @ AllisonDuke @ HeatherMcCorkle My current favorite ensemble cast is the # BigBangTheory ...but they don't really have a "main" character # WritersRoad Ebony McKenna author   @ EbonyMcKenna I read some great advice from Save The Cat, that the hero doesn't constantly have to ask questions or second guess. # WritersRoad Heather McCorkle   @ HeatherMcCorkle @ Chris_Ledbetter That can be tough with an ensemble. How do you feel about the outcome? # WritersRoad Heather McCorkle   @ HeatherMcCorkle @ jbeemi...

Here is an abbreviated recap of last Monday's chat on finding the right beta readers or critique group: Heather McCorkle   Finding beta readers or critique groups can be the easy part. Finding GOOD ones, and keeping them, is much harder. #WritersRoad Yelena Casale   to  @HeatherMcCorkle There has to be a good balance betw a constructive critique and encouragement #writersroad Heather McCorkle   The key is to know what you're looking for in betas or crit partners, and be ready to reciprocate. #WritersRoad Karen Strong   It's important to know what you're looking for: Do you want structure, grammar, character development? Helps to know first. #WritersRoad Karen Strong   For instance, I'm not much into grammar and misspellings. I like having CPs who can do structure/plot/character stuff. #WritersRoad Melinda Primrose   to  @Yelena_Casale and you have to be willing to take the constructive criticism #write...

Here is an abbreviated recap of our last chat in August on Subplots. It's a short one because we did a half hour chat and half hour word war challenge: Heather McCorkle   Subplots can add depth and intrigue when balanced right. When balanced wrong, they can confuse and lose the reader. #WritersRoad Krissi Dallas   Subplots should effectively tie in to overall theme & plot! Don't let them be pointless... #writersroad TS Tate (Tee)   From WD: Think of subplots as simply strands of stories that support or drive the main plot. #WritersRoad TS Tate (Tee)   subplots can: Advance your story in satisfying increments. #writersroad TS Tate (Tee)   Unleash transformative forces on your main characters: growth or corruption, gain or loss. #WritersRoad TS Tate (Tee)   Pivot your action, provide twists. #WritersRoad TS Tate (Tee)   Induce mood: menace, comedy, pathos, triumph. #WritersRoad TS Tate (Tee)  ...