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Rose Sheffler wrote a new post 4 years, 9 months ago
In memory of Chris
“John’s dead, Maggie.” Ann stood in the doorway, her voice hollow and her cheeks streaked. In the two years that she’d been my roommate, I’d never seen her cry.
I dropped the handful of […]
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Rose Sheffler commented on the post, 3 Ways to Instantly Rope Readers into Your First Scene 4 years, 9 months ago
Thank you, Joelle! You’re very kind.
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Rose Sheffler commented on the post, How to Develop Writing Habits That Can Survive a Fluctuating Schedule 4 years, 10 months ago
Abi, hold on to that peace! And Godspeed in this coming year. I hope everything you found in this article helps you reach your writing goals.
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Rose Sheffler commented on the post, How to Develop Writing Habits That Can Survive a Fluctuating Schedule 4 years, 10 months ago
Kristianne, your body and your mind are connected in so many ways. The five senses really do so much to prep your mind without you really noticing. Try it out and see what works. I’m so glad I could help, even a little bit.
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Rose Sheffler commented on the post, How to Develop Writing Habits That Can Survive a Fluctuating Schedule 4 years, 10 months ago
It was my pleasure. I hope you can work out a schedule that works well for you.
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Rose Sheffler commented on the post, How to Develop Writing Habits That Can Survive a Fluctuating Schedule 4 years, 10 months ago
I am so glad I could help. Writing schedules are the worst but being flexible is a great skill to nurture. Good luck!
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Rose Sheffler commented on the post, What to Do When Your Chapter Falls Flat and You Don’t Know Why 4 years, 10 months ago
Rachel, you are so welcome! Good luck editing!
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Rose Sheffler commented on the post, What to Do When Your Chapter Falls Flat and You Don’t Know Why 4 years, 10 months ago
You can call me “Rose.” And you’re welcome.
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Rose Sheffler commented on the post, What to Do When Your Chapter Falls Flat and You Don’t Know Why 4 years, 10 months ago
Nate. First, thanks for reading. Second, I’ll try to answer your question as best I can. What’s your primary goal of the scenes that aren’t working? If the primary goal is worldbuilding then I might try cutting that out until later. (worldbuilding can be added after a first draft.) Ask yourself what your MC wants the most right after waking up…[Read more]
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Rose Sheffler commented on the post, Stop Pretending Children Don’t Exist in Your Story World 4 years, 10 months ago
Thanks Kylie, and good luck with your writing. I’m always happy when people take something away from one of my articles.
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Rose Sheffler wrote a new post 4 years, 11 months ago
Have you ever been writing a scene or chapter and something felt wrong? In the moment, you couldn’t name a specific detail that needed to be added, removed, or changed. That’s because singling out a problem as you […]
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Very helpful, thx Mrs. Sheffler! 😀
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You can call me “Rose.” And you’re welcome.
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Mrs. Sheffler *cough cough* Rose, sounds good! It is so weird using a first name with an adult. XD
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Nate. First, thanks for reading. Second, I’ll try to answer your question as best I can. What’s your primary goal of the scenes that aren’t working? If the primary goal is worldbuilding then I might try cutting that out until later. (worldbuilding can be added after a first draft.) Ask yourself what your MC wants the most right after waking up from his coma. That desire, even if it’s not the point of your entire story, will drive his conversation. I can’t say much more because I don’t know much about your story, but I know the feeling of NOTHING working, especially that first chapter. My other two suggestions would be to write a bad first chapter and let it go or to skip the first chapter entirely. First chapters rarely come out right on your first try.
As a side suggestion, try saying your dialogue out loud. Try variations of responses. Act it out. Dialogue is super hard to get right. Don’t despair. Every word written is practice.
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Rachel, you are so welcome! Good luck editing!
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Rose Sheffler wrote a new post 4 years, 11 months ago
Like most of us, you probably dream of circumstances that allow you to write for several hours a day without making any sacrifices or experiencing any interruptions. But the reality is that what works today might […]
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Good stuff, this is very helpful for me right now. Thanks for taking the time to write this!! 😃
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It was my pleasure. I hope you can work out a schedule that works well for you.
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This is so helpful! I especially found the first tip about creating rituals involving the five senses interesting. When my week doesn’t work out the way I wanted it to, I often find it hard to stay consistent in my writing. So thank you for these reminders! I really needed this.
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Kristianne, your body and your mind are connected in so many ways. The five senses really do so much to prep your mind without you really noticing. Try it out and see what works. I’m so glad I could help, even a little bit.
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I am so glad I could help. Writing schedules are the worst but being flexible is a great skill to nurture. Good luck!
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Abi, hold on to that peace! And Godspeed in this coming year. I hope everything you found in this article helps you reach your writing goals.
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Rose Sheffler commented on the post, Stop Pretending Children Don’t Exist in Your Story World 5 years ago
Joelle, I think it depends on the settings and situations. I would argue that SO MANY books focus on just teens and young teens, and completely ignore children and older adults. Remember that generally people don’t live in age vacuums (although it does depend on the kind of story your telling and where it’s located). I think you lose valuable…[Read more]
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Rose Sheffler commented on the post, A Simple Technique to Unleash Creativity You Didn’t Realize You Had 5 years, 1 month ago
Catherine, I’m so glad you like it. It was one of my favorites to write 🙂
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Rose Sheffler commented on the post, How Should Christian Authors Portray Trials of Faith? 5 years, 1 month ago
Don’t cry! And thanks for reading.
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Rose Sheffler commented on the post, How Should Christian Authors Portray Trials of Faith? 5 years, 1 month ago
Kristianne, it’s my pleasure to help. Thank you and good luck!
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Rose Sheffler commented on the post, How Should Christian Authors Portray Trials of Faith? 5 years, 1 month ago
Terah, I’m so glad this helps you. Godspeed!
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Rose Sheffler wrote a new post 5 years, 1 month ago
Editor’s Note: This article is the third installment in our four-part series on how to balance darkness and hope in fiction. To learn why we’re doing this series and how we’re approaching the topics, read our i […]
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Terah, I’m so glad this helps you. Godspeed!
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Wow, such a great article! This gives me a better picture of how to portray suffering, loss, and eventually hope in my current WIP. Thank you so much!
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Kristianne, it’s my pleasure to help. Thank you and good luck!
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Don’t cry! And thanks for reading.
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Rose Sheffler joined the group Publishing and Marketing Nerds 5 years, 3 months ago
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Rose Sheffler commented on the post, 3 Ways to Keep Your Cast of Characters from Blurring Together 5 years, 3 months ago
Tabitha, how do you plan to tackle this area in the future? What was the most helpful thing you gathered from the article?
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*sobs* That’s SO sad!!! Will be revisiting this. *wipes eyes*
Thanks for reading, Joelle.
No, THANK YOU for writing. 🙂
My heart… this is beautiful, Rose.
I was inspired to write this poem by your story. Hope you like it I apologise for wasting your time otherwise.
~She should have loved John
He was the kind of guy girls say that they want.
The type that told them everything.
And apologized when they were wrong
And when they shouted and when they forgot
The kind who poured all of himself in- sometimes by the trickle, sometimes by the gallon.
The type that didn’t realize that he was tipping over into a cup with holes.
That he’d never fill her, he wasn’t David after all.
Of course she didn’t love him- not enough.
But she was a nice girl.
Too nice to hurt his feelings.
So compassionate that she only subjected him to the torment of loneliness.
The fact that “I love you” was an illusion he carried to the grave he made, the grave he laid.
Then he died, and she loved him, she loved him because how else was she going to apologise for not loving him enough when he was alive?
It didn’t matter now though, he was dead, not past not asleep, not in another life. Because death and sleep weren’t a d##n thing alike.
She loved him now at least, and that was supposed to be enough.~
Thank you so much.
I’m crying!! THIS IS SO GUT-wRENCHING!! You’ve forged real humans who are sad and have intense feeling without making them have a constant stream of why it’s so terrible It’s so buetiful! I LOVE IT!!!!!! *wipes the tears from my eyes*
Terah, thank you for reading and leaving feedback. I’m glad my story touched you.
*sobbing in a corner* That’s tragic, Rose, but beautiful! You are such an AMAZING author!!! Thank you so much for sharing. ❤
Ella, it was a huge team effort at Story Embers, but thank you for your encouragement. It was my pleasure to share.
Thanks, Kathy!
…I don’t even know what to say. This is incredible.
Thanks, Martin.
Thank you, Clara.
Anyone who reads my story makes me feel honored. Anyone who reads and then rereads, makes me feel humbled. You **can** write like this. Try. Fail. Try again. (Probably fail again.) You’ll get there.
Thank you