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Chyina Powell
- Sep 30, 2019
- 4 min
How To Finish That First Draft
Writers have a lot of first drafts under their belt, many of which never get finished or live to see the light of day. I used to wonder why that was until I took a look into my own life as a writer. Sometimes I would have so many ideas for great novels that in trying to stay up with the latest idea I would set a project down and never pick it back up. Other times, I would get so frustrated in trying to make the first draft perfect, editing the same chapter five times before m
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Chyina Powell
- Jul 29, 2019
- 3 min
What’s More Important? Setting goals or achieving them?
Hello everyone! This is a question that has been on my mind for quite some time so I decided to share my findings with you. If you disagree, that’s fine. Let me know why in the comments, I’m a pretty open-minded person and you may see something that I don’t. I do try to respond to every comment so I’ll be on the look out. And if you agree with what I have to say, then like and share with someone else. Likewise, let’s say you are a writer with a finished manuscript and your go
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Chyina Powell
- Jul 22, 2019
- 3 min
Why Every Character Can’t Be A Good Person
One thing every writer and reader knows is that it’s the characters we hate, the loathsome, unforgiveable, narcissistic and annoying characters, that help advance the plot along. And most writers and critics will tell you that in order to have a good story, you need interesting characters, and rarely are perfect characters as interesting as the ones we can’t stand. When I was in college one of my professors told me that in order to make a truly amazing story you have to give
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Chyina Powell
- Jul 8, 2019
- 3 min
The Importance of a Bio
Who? What? When? Where? Why? Now you know how to ask a question. Lolz. But in all seriousness, writers need to know how to market themselves as such in a way that is interesting and concise. And this is where short bios come in. Biographies should stay between 50 and 100 words because the readers don’t care about your life story. They just want to know who you are and whether or not they should read something else by you. Trust me, I have written some horrible bios in my time
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Chyina Powell
- Jun 24, 2019
- 4 min
When To Use Character Sheets
Hello everyone, it has been a while since I posted some advice for writers so I decided to share this little nugget with all of you. Character sheets are a pretty popular thing among writers regardless of their experience level and if you are a new writer and trying to decide if you need one, this may help you. First things first. What are character sheets? Newer writers may not be familiar with character sheets but they are a great help, especially to those with a grand plot
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Chyina Powell
- Jun 10, 2019
- 2 min
Voices From The Shadows: Why Your Story Matters
Welcome to my strange bookish mind! This post is just a friendly reminder about why you should stick with it! And if you have a story you want to tell, tell it! I have come to know many people who have amazing stories to tell, things they want to share with the world. But they don’t. And why is that? Well, some feel like their story isn’t important enough. Some think they need certain credentials that they don’t have. Others are afraid their story won’t be well-received or th
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Chyina Powell
- Apr 22, 2019
- 2 min
Women of Color Writing Circle
I am always looking for new bookish adventures and so when I began talking with a woman by the name of Julene Allen, an idea began to form. Julene is the founder of Lean In: Women of Color, an organization dedicated to the equitable treatment of women of color, sharing stories and offering encouragement and guidance to women of color in a wide array of areas. We noticed that there was a lack in the publishing industry, that it took research to find books by women of color, th
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Chyina Powell
- Apr 8, 2019
- 3 min
A Conversation with Nnedi Okorafor
During the last week of March I attended the annual Sigma Tau Delta convention. For those who don’t know (which is probably everyone) Sigma Tau Delta is the International English Honor’s Society, a fraternity of word nerd, if you will. From comics to video games to classic literature and movie adaptations. If it’s in that realm, we talk about it. Anyway, I go every year and this year I was quite excited as I had read the work of one of our featured speakers and loved it. If y
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Chyina Powell
- Mar 11, 2019
- 3 min
Which Cliches Are Good Cliches?
As a writer, there is no question that you will have to use one or two cliches in your writing. (And I mean cliches as in phrases and tropes.) Why? Because it makes the world more recognizable and readers are more invested in stories they can relate to. So, how do you know which cliches will work to your advantage and which ones won’t? And how many cliches is it okay to use before you make your reader want to throw your book down in frustration and righteous indignation? Well
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Chyina Powell
- Feb 15, 2019
- 2 min
Ten Women: The Best Literary Fiction You’ve Never Read
Ten Women, a novel by Marcela Serrano has been on my TBR (to-be-read list) for a while. I chose this book last year as an Amazon First Reads but never got the chance to actually sit down with it. Perhaps, it is because I tend to gravitate towards tangible paper instead of e-books but I just picked this one up. As you can imagine, this book is about women. The story features nine women and their female therapist, which some may argue is the tenth titular character. I, on the o
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Chyina Powell
- Dec 17, 2018
- 4 min
5 Writing Exercises to Turn Your Plot into a Story
Hello world! These are not writing prompts. These are exercises that will help you with your crafting the backstory of your work in progress or that novel you’ve always wanted to sit down and write yet didn’t believe you could. You may have seen my earlier post on CreativeLive, a resource for the artist in all of us, and if you haven’t check it out! Anyway, CreativeLive has wonderful courses and these are five exercises I thought that I could share with you all. These are jus
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Chyina Powell
- Dec 14, 2018
- 3 min
Spinning Silver: A Story of Interwoven Lives, Fate and the Cold
Those who follow me on Instagram may already know that I just finished a wonderful YA Fantasy novel by Naomi Novik entitled Spinning Silver. If you don’t follow me on Instagram, be sure to check me out! My handle is @Chyina_Powell so I am pretty easy to find. Well, back to the subject. This book came in my first Book of The Month subscription box. (Two hardcovers for $15 is a marvelous price!) Anyway, I had the time to read it this month now that National Novel Writing Month
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Chyina Powell
- Dec 10, 2018
- 3 min
CreativeLive: Thoughts on a Tool For Writers
NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) is over for 2018 but there are still some amazing resources out there for winners and participants alike to use. For those who are familiar with NaNoWriMo, they offer pretty amazing sponsor offers each year both for November and for Camp NaNoWriMo which takes place in both April and July. If you want to read a bit more about NaNoWriMo you can do so here. Anyway, one of those offers was one free course with CreativeLive. CreativeLive is
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Chyina Powell
- Dec 7, 2018
- 3 min
When The Flowers Don’t Smell As Sweet: Book Review
Wild Flowers by Michelle S. Smith is a book of poetry that is very different from what I am used to. Honestly, in my adult life, I have been drawn to more lyric poetry such as Let Me Be Lonely by Claudia Rankine. Michelle contacted me and asked me to give a review and so here I am, reviewing. She asked me for an honest review and I will be as honest as I can be. One of the amazing things about poetry is that it is extremely free, not only when it comes to word choice and pun
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Chyina Powell
- Nov 28, 2018
- 4 min
Gay Girl, Good God and a Good Book: Book Reflection
So, if you follow me on Instagram you may be up to date on my latest book haul. If not, then I purchased a few books and this was one of them: Gay Girl. Good God: The Story of Who I Was and Who God Has Always Been by Jackie Hill Perry. It was, to say the least, a pretty interesting read. Hill Perry is a Christian Hip-Hop artist as well as a poet and I had already been familiar with her before I decided to pick up her book but I had been wanting to read it and it was on the s
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Chyina Powell
- Nov 5, 2018
- 3 min
Are you a reader, writer or a crazy person who does both?
You’ve seen those ridiculous quizzes they have in teen magazines right? Well, this is definitely not that. This is just a quick little assessment, for your eyes only. Some people would rather read than write. And while you have to read in order to write, there are people out there in the great big universe that bleed ink. That’s perfectly okay! And just to point out that this post isn’t to say that readers don’t write or writers don’t read. Five Signs that Show You’re a Reade
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Chyina Powell
- Nov 1, 2018
- 5 min
NaNoWriMo Is Finally Here!
It’s November once again and that means three things to me. One: My mother’s birthday. Two: Thanksgiving. Three: NaNoWriMo. And not particularly in that order, haha. National Novel Writing Month is on its way but that doesn’t mean it is too late for you to sign up. How about you read and share this post and let me know if you’ve decided to participate this year. We could be writing buddies! I can’t wait to read some of your amazing work! What is NaNoWriMo? NaNoWriMo is Nation
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Chyina Powell
- Oct 15, 2018
- 4 min
It’s Okay to Not Like A Popular Book (or Author)
There have been times where I have had to argue why I dislike a book. And it was a draining and exceedingly frustrating experience. Any bookish person has probably had similar arguments or arguments in which you had to defend a book that you loved. My question to the literary world is this: Why do you care whether I like a book or not? My book preferences have nothing at all to do with what you read. Therefore, I am here to comfort all those book lovers who’ve dealt with the
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Chyina Powell
- Sep 17, 2018
- 2 min
Your Writing Brand: What You Like V. What Your Good At
Every writer has a favorite genre, one that they love to read and one that they love to write. For example, I love reading speculative fiction (literature that answers the question of what if?). But just because you enjoy reading something doesn’t mean you are adept at writing in that style or genre. There are many writers out there who love one genre but aren’t the best at writing it. It’s just one of those truths that we choose to ignore when it pertains to us. I don’t wish
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