Category Archives: The Shea Method

I’m a writer who sets weekly and monthly goals for myself. Inevitably, there are times when I’ve crushed my goal, writing two complete chapters rather than just finishing the one I had planned. And it’s so easy to forget to celebrate these small wins. But there are also times when I’m in a rut ofContinue reading “A Writing Tip to Believe that you Actually Can”

We yearn for the good times of writing, where everything else fades and there’s nothing between you and your words. Where you can be lost for hours and it’s only once the final thought has been answered do you release your breath and realize that you’re hungry, thirsty, and exhausted. That it’s only now thatContinue reading “A Writing Tip to Find your Community”

Today’s writing tip is inspired by my three-year-old niece. When I asked her what advice I should give my fellow writers, she gave me this incredible grin and giggled as she said, “Barren!” By that she meant, “Write about your dog, Barren, Auntie Shea!” Great idea, little one. Writing from the dog’s point of viewContinue reading “A Writing Tip to Switch your POV”

When I was growing up, I would go back to Long Beach every year and visit my Nana. She was a famous art critic and most afternoons we would talk about art and writing. One time she said, “Everything is fiction, because everything is told from our own point of view.” To put it anotherContinue reading “A Writing Tip to Find your Story”

Maybe you need to hear this, maybe you don’t. But I learned this the hard way and I’d like to save you the trouble. Everyone loves having an author friend. Your friends and your family really do want to read your book/anthology. They think you’re great and they want to see what you’ve created. TheyContinue reading “A Writing Tip to kNOw your Worth”

The simplest way to make your characters feel real? Give them quirks. Quirks will unconsciously draw your reader in and embed them in your story because real people have little idiosynchracies that make us who we are. There’s a tick to our speech, we constantly run our hands through our hair when we’re thinking, weContinue reading “A Writing Tip to Hear the Silence”

What do you do when you’re struggling with adding sensory details to your work? You may be writing a piece of prose and can’t quite bring the setting alive, or writing a poem and wanting to avoid the cliche turns of phrase. Time to check out the tasting notes for a bottle of wine. TheContinue reading “A Writing Tip to Make your Writing Fine like Wine”

Do you remember being 6 years old? Can you connect back to those memories or can you go further and connect with the person you were then? The one who didn’t know the world quite yet, who played with her friends, who loved and hated things for no particular reason except that it made sense,Continue reading “A Writing Tip to Feel the Love”

It’s time to hear yourself speak. You might be thinking, but I’m a writer, I hear myself speak every day. I know the tambor of my voice. I feel its resonance. I know how it catches on a particularly beautiful line, or pauses as the image comes, cresting over the horizon of my mind likeContinue reading “A Writing Tip to Speak your Truth”