The German Emigration Center is maybe the most incredible museum I've ever visited. Interactive stations bring the history of emigration to life. Moving, effective, eye-opening. #WritingCommunity #Germany

Bremerhaven! What an unexpectedly wonderful little town in Northern Germany. Highly recommend! Plus, it's amazing to finally see in person a place you've been writing about. #WritingCommunity #Germany

Officially this is Day 2 of my German research adventure, but I was too tired to post yesterday. Insight so far: DO NOT trust ChatGPT for directions in a foreign country. The ones it gave me were stunningly wrong, right down to the "landmarks." #WritingCommunity #Germany

#WritingCommunity #BookSky Love the classics!

Just finished reading Hitler's People by Richard J. Evans. Great book. One thing that struck me was the number of high-ranking Nazis who were talented musicians. Like, a lot of them. Music didn't have the power to redeem them. I'm trying to figure out why. #WritingCommunity #BookSky #History

#Writers, what's the best writing advice you've ever gotten? One that's been on my mind lately is: a problem that your character can walk away from is a book the reader can walk away from. #WritingCommunity

#MysteryWriters don't neglect your setting! Here is a post all about how setting can work for you in your mystery novel. #WritingCommunity writershelpingwriters.net/2025/08/how-...

True or false: a #writer is someone who sits in their pyjamas all morning staring out the window and calls it work. #WritingCommunity

Easy, right? #WritingCommunity

#Writers, are you using the weather in your fiction to its full potential? Winter means snow, which means leaving footprints behind. Summer heat can amplify tension. Rain can create delays, reflect mood. Choose your setting with intention. #WritingCommunity

What's the difference between omniscient POV, deep third, and head hopping? It all comes down to control. Ask yourself who's holding the camera? If it's being tossed around indiscriminately, you've got a problem. #WritingCommunity darlingaxe.com/blogs/news/p...

Would love to hear from #writers who do some (or any, or all?) of their work by longhand. Not many do anymore, and I feel like when I make the effort, the work comes out differently. Agree? #WritingCommunity

#Writers, tell me a little about your current work in progress. I'm working my way through the second draft of a historical novel set in Berlin 1938. Filling some research holes, just generally doing it better. Time away from it made me see what it needed. #WritingCommunity

#Mystery writers, if you're interested in structure and are fans of Sue Grafton, here's a breakdown of A Is for Alibi from our ongoing series on mysteries. #WritingCommunity #booksky darlingaxe.com/blogs/news/a...

At McLoughlin Gardens I was often up with the sun. I would grab a coffee, sit out on the deck and write as the sun rose. Couldn't ask for more inspiration than that. #WritingCommunity

Writers in the Vancouver area! Come check out our presentation on narrative structure next month at WriteOnBowen.com 😎 (With @michellebark.bsky.social !)

Sharing another photo from my magical month as writer in residence at McLoughlin Gardens. Sometimes when I couldn't sleep, I'd stand on the deck and look at the stars. No light pollution. It was fantastic. #WritingCommunity

When you finally figure something out, you want to tell everyone 😅. I could never quite explain why head-hopping bothered me so much and how it was different from omniscient POV. Suddenly I got it, so I'm sharing it with you. #WritingCommunity darlingaxe.com/blogs/news/p...

Hey, #writers, if you happen to be on Bowen Island the weekend of September 13-14, there's a great writing festival taking place: Write on Bowen. Come to our workshop! We'd love to meet you and talk story structure (one of our favorite topics). #WritingCommunity

#amwritingfantasy #amwriting #writingcommunity #indieauthor #indieauthors inventingrealityediting.com/2...

Sharing one of my sunrises from the residency I just finished at McLoughlin Gardens on Vancouver Island. Absolutely magical. Great place to get lots of #writing done. #WritingCommunity

Calling all #writers! Great festival coming up on Bowen Island in September. Please join us! www.writeonbowen.com

#Win a Story Skeleton: The Classics #ebook writershelpingwriters.net/2025/05/read... @michellebark.bsky.social #giveaway #writingcommunity

Writers who are interested in story structure, check out my most recent blog post with Writers Helping Writers: writershelpingwriters.net/2025/05/read... Includes a giveaway for our book, Story Skeleton: The Classics #WritingCommunity #BookSky

Great piece on why it's not enough to rely on beta readers for your novel. #WritingCommunity writersinthestormblog.com/2025/05/are-...

Very excited to have a piece in today's @theglobeandmail.com all about the classics. #BookSky #WritingCommunity www.theglobeandmail.com/life/first-p...

BMO Marathon is done! What a day. Here is my race report for anyone who's interested: michellebarker.ca/bmo-marathon... #BMOMarathon #Vancouver #running

#WritingQ What is your favorite genre to read? #WritingCommunity

“There are three rules for writing a novel. Unfortunately, no one knows what they are.” ― W. Somerset Maugham So true. And they change from one project to the next. #WritingCommunity

“The scariest moment is always just before you start.” ― Stephen King #WritingQ Agreed? I find it equal parts scary and exciting to start a new novel. Somehow, every time I'm fooled that "this one will be easy." Ha. #WritingCommunity

Spots are disappearing quickly! If you're interested, don't delay! #WritingCommunity

My amazing colleague is coming out with a novel! Can't wait to read it! #WritingCommunity #BookSky

“The road to hell is paved with adverbs.” ― Stephen King, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft Agree? Agree slightly? Agree wholeheartedly? 😅 #WritingQ

“You must stay drunk on writing so reality cannot destroy you.” ― Ray Bradbury Sounds like good advice for our present times 😅 #WritingCommunity

Fans of noir, check out @septimusbrown.com's deconstruction of The Maltese Falcon on this blog post: darlingaxe.com/blogs/news/t...

New blog post is up that deconstructs The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency for our #mystery skeleton series. #WritingCommunity darlingaxe.com/blogs/news/n...

In today's big news: the Darling Axe's annual writing retreat is now open for registration! Hope to see you there! #WritingCommunity darlingaxe.com/pages/author...

Anyone else notice how when the going gets tough for Emma Bovary, she basically presses "Add to Cart"?😅 Some things never change. #BookSky #WritingCommunity darlingaxe.com/blogs/news/m...

Just 300 words/day, every day, for one year = a 109,500 word novel. "I don't have time" sounds true, but is it? I've been noticing lately how much time I spend on my phone. I have time. #WritingCommunity

Today's #WritingQ: Is there a bias in readers against first-person narration in adult fiction? I have heard this expressed by some readers and wonder if it's widespread or simply a subjective opinion.

“Don't tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass.” ― Anton Chekhov If there are any secrets to writing, I believe this is one of them. #WritingCommunity

Someone out there, convince me that The Big Sleep is a good book. I'm not seeing it. #WritingCommunity #BookSky

“No tears in the writer, no tears in the reader. No surprise in the writer, no surprise in the reader.” ― Robert Frost So, #WritingQ, how does this quote impact how you feel about outlining? Curious. #WritingCommunity

Overused openings in a novel: the weather. Waking up. A fight scene. Dialogue without context. #Writers please add to the list. What have you encountered in an opening sentence one too many times? #WritingCommunity

“You never have to change anything you got up in the middle of the night to write.” ― Saul Bellow Ha. Most of what I write in the middle of the night seems brilliant at the time but makes no sense in daylight. Writers: agree or disagree? #WritingQ

“Read, read, read. Read everything -- trash, classics, good and bad, and see how they do it. Just like a carpenter who works as an apprentice and studies the master.” ― William Faulkner #WritingCommunity #BookSky

Did my last long run last weekend. Long taper for the #BMOmarathon, hopefully not too long, we'll see. Hope everyone's training/taper is going well! #Marathontraining #running #Vancouver

“Fantasy is hardly an escape from reality. It's a way of understanding it.” ― Lloyd Alexander #WritingCommunity And as a bonus: here's George R.R. Martin talking about writing fantasy. If you haven't heard this, it's brilliant and inspiring: youtu.be/4hJhmxc3Arw?...

Today's #WritingQ: Writers, why do you write? What got you started? What keeps you going? (Okay, that's more than one question, but I'm curious).

Send me your favorite first sentences of novels! Here's one of my faves: "There was a boy called Eustace Clarence Scrubb, and he almost deserved it." CS Lewis, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader #WritingCommunity