Ruth E. Thaler-Carter
The 4th of July celebrations this past week, along with a prompt from NAIWE executive director April Michelle Davis, got me thinking about the connection between freelancing and […]

When asked what author inspired them the most to write, many writers will name JK Rowling. Indeed, her books are quite phenomenal. I adored them growing up, and I would be lying if I said she wasn’t on my own […]

For all the glib chatter one encounters about the “rules” of English grammar and usage, many people misunderstand what the rules are and how they work, and others prate about rules that aren’t rules at all. […]

Several months ago, I wrote two posts based on a concept from the book “Consequential Strangers: The Power of People Who Don’t Seem to Matter. . . But Really Do,” by Melinda Blau and Karen L. Fingerman.  (See “Con […]

Follow Big Brother’s lifetime interest in wheels as he explores beyond the comfortable boundaries of his family farm, rolling through neighboring towns, then nearby states, and finally all across the United S […]

Every story begins with an idea, and nearly every idea begins with “What if?”

What if the toys in a child’s bedroom came to life when humans weren’t around?

What if dinosaurs and humans were trapped on […]

So you want to write a novel.

I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say that almost everyone has wished to or even intended at some point to write a book. Maybe it was a children’s book, a memoir, cookbook, […]

July 12: National Simplicity Day. Henry David Thoreau was born on July 12, 1817.  Thoreau was an advocate for living a life of simplicity. In our busy lifestyles, National Simplicity Day is the time to take a step […]

We wanted to get to know Robert Moskowitz (NAIWE’s Professionalism Expert) better, so last month we sat down with him. Here are some things he shared.

What is one thing that you learned about your craft the h […]

So, I saw Wreck-it Ralph 2: Ralph Breaks the Internet recently. Yeah, I know it’s been out for a while, but I’m slow with these things. Honestly, I just don’t go to the movies very often. Unless it’s a film […]

If you’re writing a story, you need a premise.

In an earlier post, I discussed how to create and develop a premise for a good story. A premise is basically your story, beginning to end, condensed into one […]

Aquaman could have been awesome… but it wasn’t. From a writing standpoint, it felt like a movie that didn’t really know what story it was trying to tell, and the result was a chaotic, fast-paced, […]

Two punctuation marks account for the biggest changes to the Associated Press Stylebook this year. The tiny hyphen (-) is being removed from many places where it was once used, and %—the percent symbol—is comin […]

Welcome to my writing blog! This will be the first of a series of posts where I use popular films to discuss literary devices. This particular post will be about characterization. As an author, I am […]

By Ruth E. Thaler-Carter, NAIWE Networking Expert
It’s summertime and the livin’ is supposed to be easy, but some of our kids (and grandkids) might want to make use of the vacation months to do some writing. Whi […]

On an average day, I take two short walks in my neighborhood. I do this for exercise, for a physical boost or a mental break or to work off stress. On especially sunny, joyfully beautiful days, I keep going out […]

After graduating college, I believed I was well prepared for my first real-world editing job at a national magazine. I’d been corrected and coached by wonderful teachers over the years—but somehow, it ratchets t […]