Frank Canino is one of 13 nominees for this year’s Canadian Short Screenplay Competition’s Top Prize: The Writers Block Crystal. CSSC Founder, David Cormican, had a chance to catch up with Frank before the big night and ask him about … Continue reading →

If I’d known then what I know nowI never would have begunI thought that creating a storyWould be a lot of funIt wouldn’t be very complicatedOr even very longHow was I to know that things Would go so horribly wrong?It started like this, it’s no li…

Tips to Avoid a Cluttered Desk Start by sorting papers. Just put them in two piles, stuff you need and stuff you can put right into the recycling bin (directly – do not pass Go). Keep a bin, bag or some kind of container right there as you work your way through and get rid [...]

Back when I announced I had a new notebook (am I a nerd or what) I had wonderful intentions to take more notes.Especially when my mom told me what that one piece of lined paper was for (thanks mom!).
It’s for putting under the unlined pages so you can …

I’ve never had this happen before. Usually when I read a book I can put it firmly in one category: liked or disliked. Sometimes it’s ‘liked with some reservations’, or ‘disliked with some exceptions’. This is the first time I have ever read a book (or …

Laura: How do you handle losing at cards? Especially if someone else is a poor winner? Shawnee: Playing games and gambling should be fun, even when you lose. I have a few simple rules I play by that help me deal with losing: * Play the game for the fun of it; winning is just [...]

I’m sitting in my office typing this, with the peeping baby chicks for company. As I mentioned on Instagram yesterday, they are awfully cute but have developed a distinct “Eau de chicken poop” aroma. Or, as Doug commented, “Poop du … Continue reading →

This was originally part of the Suite101 University ecourses offered for free. I wanted to preserve the information for myself and others as Suite101 is taking all of the ecourse University content down. Mysteries By Janet Blaylock Introduction This course is a pre-requisite to “Writing Mysteries.” What are your favorite genres? Romance perhaps? Maybe it’s Adventures [...]

A MESSAGE FROM THE YORKTON FILM FESTIVAL:   This year, the Yorkton Film Festival celebrates its 65 anniversary and we’re asking you to come and join us in the celebration. For 65 years, the Yorkton Film Festival has showcased the … Continue reading →

Originally part of the Suite101 University ecourses offered for free. This content is being removed by Suite101 and I wanted to preserve some of it so others could take the course and for myself to remember the information. Inspirational Writing By Sara Quest Introduction   Inspirational publications like “Chicken Soup for the Soul” reveal today’s demand [...]

The Publishing Perspectives website is running a book “consumption” survey. Right, so they think we are eating the books… Seriously though, there’s not enough information on how reading habits have shifted in the first half of 2012. Please pass this … Continue reading →

Originally part of the Suite101 University ecourses offered for free. This content is being removed by Suite101. I wanted to keep it active and useful for myself and others. Magazine Writing By Lisa-Anne Sanderson Introduction   If you’ve always had an ambition to write, freelance writing for magazines is an excellent place to start. Writing non-fiction [...]

The twist ending is both beloved and hated.  It offers an ending that makes the audience rethink the film they have seen and makes them crave a second viewing.  But it also can take a perfectly good story into the … Continue reading →

I looked at my place on the AllTop Writing list today. It was a nice spot, close enough to the top to keep my toes from getting chilly and yet not so close that I feel intimidated by myself or stressed out about having to perform. Performance anxiety, the stress you get when you realize [...]

I hate spam. I really do. A while back I volunteered to run a Twitter newsletter, using the Paper.li web software. I thought it was easy to set up, but the other person involved couldn’t make it work, so I … Continue reading →

In any story, the audience must form a connection to the protagonist.  They must care enough about the protagonist to want them to achieve their goal or else they will not be willing to go on the journey with them. … Continue reading →

Good things are worth the wait. And fortunately, these good things aren’t just good– they’re GREAT! We are proud to present to you our top 13 Finalists for 2011/12 in the Canadian Short Screenplay Competition. These lucky scribes are all … Continue reading →

Writers are bedeviled by a combination of insecurity and arrogance. While we think we’re more than capable and critical response to our own work has been overwhelmingly positive, one reviewer of our first book called it “excruciating” (and we’ve been called things far worse on this very site). One of us, after a jet-lagged radio [...]

Are you losing potential readers because you don’t post enough information when you try to lure them into your posts? We read so many leading titles that have promise and then don’t deliver. As writers, we need to give people enough information that they can connect to something we have written about and want to [...]

I’m kind of frustrated. I had a GREAT idea for a post. It was all floating around in my head, all the bits coming together to create THE IDEA. Then the phone rang – something about a survey about the furnace for the home owner. I was annoyed. I got rid of them. I got [...]