Bethany Henry: Writing & Wellness

Writing can be a hard and solitary activity at times. Quotes from famous authors can guide and encourage us along the writing journey as well as hopefully inspire our creativity. Enjoy these quotes, and feel free to comment below with any of your favorites that I may have missed! Writing Quotes “Focus more on your desire than on your doubt, and the dream will take care of itself.” Mark Twain “Words are our most inexhaustible source of magic.” J. K. Rowling “The Six Golden Rules of Writing: Read, read, read, and write, write, write.”  Ernest Gaines “You fail only if you stop writing.” Ray Bradbury. “The most valuable of all talents is that of never using two words when one will do.”  Thomas Jefferson “Find a subject you care about and which you in your heart feel others should care about. It is this genuine caring, not your games with language, which will be the most compelling and seductive element in your style.”  Stephen King “The writer is by nature a dreamer— a c...

Today I am thrilled to be guest posting about character development over at DIY MFA. DIY MFA  is all about helping writers “Write with focus, Read with purpose, and Build your community.” The site is an amazing place for writers to find high-quality resources and information, as well as an encouraging community. My guest post,  5 Tips for Creating Engaging Characters , is designed to help us create amazing characters that our readers can love, cheer for, resonate with, or dislike to their very core (in the case of our villains). Here’s a little cheat sheet/reference guide for you! So  check it out , comment with any of your own character tips or questions, read DIY MFA’s awesome content, and as always- happy writing! 🙂 Originally published August 23, 2019 on Bethany-Henry. com.

Each book on our bookshelf may  seem  different, but the best of them often share core elements of strong story structure.  Why Care About Story Structure? Story structure is the backbone to keep our stories on track and enable our stories to better resonate with our readers by fulfilling their subconscious expectations. Having strong story structure can transform a so-so book into a that book readers can’t put down. It can be the difference between needing to rewrite our novel six million times and still not being quite sure whether it makes sense and having a draft that can stand on its own.  Story structure is the framework that makes a novel “work.” Now that doesn’t mean our stories all need to be the same.  There are certain core elements that are common to great stories, even when those stories are radically different. When you look back at the stories you love, chances are you will find all (or at least most) of these elements in some shape or form. Rathe...

We have big dreams we want to achieve. Plans and passions, books to write and better people we want to become. So the questions is, who do you spend most of your time with? A popular quote by Jim Rohn says that we become like the 5 people we are closest to.  Research shows  that this sphere of influence is even larger, with the strongest influence coming from those we spend the most time with but significant influence extending to our entire social network. We’ve seen this happen. We start saying the same phrases as our friends, laugh at the same jokes, watch the same movies.  Sometimes these influences can even be deeper than we realize. Beyond the movies we watch, our values and attitudes are shaped by those we’re around most often.  So what does this mean for us writers? Answer: We want to surround ourselves with people who are dreamers. Whether they’re artists, writers, business people, stay at home parents, or between jobs at the moment- we want to be with peopl...

Worldbuilding is when we as writers create the world that our story is set in. From the downtown corner of Market Square in summer to the far off reaches of the galaxy (and beyond!) there is no end to the settings we can create.  So where do we even start? How do we know where to set our world or how to make it seem real?  Everyone has a different process that will work better for them, but here are a few tips for getting started on a good track.  Worldbuilding for Writers Brainstorming Brainstorming is often where worldbuilding starts. We gather ideas and start piecing them together to make something larger. But how to we know where to even start brainstorming? What ideas are good ones? 1- Identify our starting point Do we know we want a story set in a small town? Big city? Fantasy forest?  If we have images, concepts, or ideas that we’re already excited about then that can be a great place to start.  2- Identify story requirements Depending on where we are in ...

Sometimes you just read the right book at the right time and it feels like magic. That’s how The Art of War for Writers by James Scott Bell was for me. I originally picked up The Art of War for Writers   at my local library (you guys rock!) and I immediately blew through the short chapters in the book. The Art of War for Writers may not be the perfect book for everyone, but I definitely appreciated it. Despite being a spendthrift with limited bookshelf space (the pain is real!) I went online and bought myself a copy because I knew I’d be reading it again soon. Here are a few of my favorite quotes from the book. I hope you find them helpful and inspiring! Favorite Quotes “A hero keeps writing, no matter what, knowing effort is its own reward; a fool eventually quits and complains that the world is unfair. Be a hero.” “A foundation in discipline is always the first step toward victory.” “So learn from the greats. Read and study those you admire. But never compare yourself to the...