We all hit rough patches when we write. A character just won't do what we want him to do. The dialogue is stilted. The prose are crap. Write long enough, and it's inevitable.

One way to combat those rough patches is the ever-popular flash fiction writing prompt. Set your main work in progress aside for an hour or a day (or even a week in some cases) and write an assortment of very short stories (fewer than 1,000 words) inspired by random first lines. It loosens the brain muscles and gets your creative juices flowing.

While you can find about a billion prompts online, I've also included a few below.

The newest installment of the “Seven Deadly Sins” series explores what not to do when it comes to developing your characters.

I live in Phoenix, AZ. It’s the desert. It gets hot. But right now, the weather is beyond beautiful – a little cloudy off and on and not even 90 degrees. Summer is just around the corner, though, and that became painfully apparent when the temperature suddenly spiked at around 94. That was the day we decided to try the AC, after having had it off since October-ish.

(Dum dum dum) The AC didn’t work. And that’s how I feel about stories sometimes. (Say what?)

Have you ever read a book or watched a movie and thought, "That's not how I would have ended it." You may even go through that with your own stories. Well, this video is for you.

For your enjoyment, "How Braveheart Should Have Ended"....

People who don’t write fiction sometimes have a difficult time understanding the delights and difficulties of the writing process. Often, however, family members and close friends will do their best to “get it”. They ask the right questions and they nod with a smile when you answer. But they’re still not quite sure why “I have a name for my main character!” is a reason for celebration. They don’t understand why “I had to kill off the boyfriend!” is a reason to cry. In fact, they’re probably thinking, “You didn’t have to do anything. You’re the writer. If it makes you sad to kill off the boyfriend, then don’t do it. What does it matter?” But you, the writer, know better. You try and try to explain it. You do your best. And sometimes you get through.

My hubby is one of those supportive people. He listens to me talk about my writing and asks how it’s going, and I, in turn, find myself trying to create the perfect analogy to explain different aspects of the process. Sometimes those analogies work, and sometimes they don’t. But my favorite one yet has to do with my anxiety when I let others read and edit my work.

It goes something like this.

(No, the title of this post isn't referring to kissing cousins, although that would definitely qualify as relative romance.)

I am a firm believer that romance is relative. It has to be. People are different, relationships are varied, and so the qualifications for a gesture be considered "romantic" must be adjusted for each situation. Romance is, by nature, very personal. The more personal and thoughtful the gesture, the more romantic it is (or else the more potential it has to be romantic).

Yes, indeed, romance is relative. And that means three very important things for writers.

The other day I started thinking about all the myths surrounding fiction – both reading and writing it - and it occurred to me that there are quite a few of those myths. Just for the heck of it, I’ve decided to take a look at the myths of fiction from time to time and do my best to dispel them.

For the first myth, we’re looking at one of my favorites, a myth I often hear from people who know me. Why they feel the need to say the following things to a fiction writer, I’m not sure. (I don’t poopoo their pursuits, after all.)

“Fiction is a waste of time. I’d rather improve my brain by reading nonfiction.”

OR

“I don’t want to invest time in reading fiction, because it doesn’t do any good. Reading nonfiction will make me a better person.”

These are simply myths. Myths, I say!

Okay, so it’s not a writing topic, but film studies do deal with story, character development, etc. And I’ve been working on a short story about zombies, so I have scary things on the mind. That being said, here are what I believe are the seven deadly sins of scary movies. (Beware of Spoilers!)

It's a beautiful day. The sun is shining. The coffee is brewing. The laptop is... well, it's doing what laptops do. And I'm ready for another year of writing, rewriting and rewriting again. Why am I ready? Because I took a vacation and turned my brain off. That's why.

Every TV channel seems to have its own reality series, at least one and sometimes more. And a wide variety of people is represented: the models, the newlyweds, the bachelors/bachelorettes, the alligator hunters, the duck call makers, the New Jersey guys and gals, etc. I know that's a very short list. But no matter how lengthy the list, you'll find that one particular group is missing.