Conflict is essential to good storytelling. However, not all conflict will have the same impact on a story. It isn’t enough to just throw progressively more challenging obstacles at your characters. Meaningful conflict is conflict that resonates with your readers.
Read MoreLine editing is the step in the publishing process that focuses on a line-by-line examination of the text of a novel. As you can imagine, very little escapes such a close read of a manuscript. I shared the following post on publishingcrawl.com after my editor and I had recently gone through the line editing process with Ivory and Bone. Here’s what I learned from my first experience with the line editing process.
Read MoreWhy is it important to create active characters? The writing world likes to talk a lot about Strong Female Characters. These conversations have gotten me thinking about strong characters in general, regardless of gender, age, or abilities. What attributes define a strong character? After much thought, I’ve concluded that, in general, a strong character is one who is Active.
Read MoreInfo-dump. Just the name of this writing mistake telegraphs that it’s something to be avoided. For purposes of this post, “info-dump” refers to a section of narration inserted into a story that explains important backstory essential to understanding the current action. Here’s an example:
Read MoreCreating realistic characters that are multi-dimensional involves knowing as much about them as possible. That includes knowing what they lie about, who they lie to, and why. Knowing these details about your characters will help give them authentic, well-rounded personalities.
Read MoreWord choice matters. As writers, our meaning either shines through or gets lost in the fog, depending on the words we choose. That’s why careful, precise word choice will improve your prose and improve the clarity of your writing.
Read MoreWe all want to create vibrant, lively, realistic characters with personality that leaps from the page. We want our characters well-rounded and interesting. We want our characters to each have their own “voice.” All of that is important, yet none of it guarantees our readers will care about our characters.
Read MoreWriting a book with a large ensemble cast of characters gives a writer many opportunities to create memorable, unique, and varied characters readers will love. But if the characters are not sufficiently distinct, the result can be confusing for the reader and distract from an otherwise good story.
Read MoreDramatic irony, one of three forms of literary irony, occurs when the reader or viewer has information that the characters do not have. It can be used to great effect in fiction, plays, and movies to create tension, suspense, empathy, or even humor.
Read MoreWhen it comes to writing prose, it’s easy to overlook the value of the sound of the words we choose. Issues of word meaning, usage, and sentence structure tend to dominate our attention when editing a draft. But in the pursuit of excellent prose, it can be useful to borrow a few techniques from poetry. Poets understand that sound enriches writing and connects with the reader on a level all its own.
Read MoreWriting great dialogue is a skill that improves with practice. One way to learn how to write great dialogue is through the study of plays. By watching, reading, and breaking down well-written plays, a fiction writer can uncover techniques that help create vivid, realistic, and effective dialogue.
Read MoreInner monologue in writing is the revelation of the character’s thoughts in the narration, but not in the dialogue. It’s all the things the reader learns that the character thinks, feels, and believes, but doesn’t say out loud. It can be used to reveal a character’s inner truths, inner conflicts, or outward deceptions.
Read MoreResearch is essential to authentic, believable fiction. However, this isn’t to say that the author who does the most research writes the best book. So how do you know how much research is enough, and when should it be done? Read on to learn my personal four-step method of researching a novel.
Read MoreCreating characters that are multi-dimensional involves knowing as much about them as possible. That includes knowing your characters’ secrets, and who they are keeping them from. All people keep secrets, and knowing your characters’ secrets will help you make them more well-rounded and add layers to their personalities.
Read MoreDo you find it hard to focus on writing? Focus is not an inborn talent, but a skill that can be learned. By making small tweaks to your routine, you should be able to improve your ability to focus and increase your productivity. For writers, that extra productivity might make the difference between finishing a book and giving up on it.
Read MoreRising Action is the part of your story that begins after the inciting incident and ends at the story's climax. This is the part of the story where your main character encounters a series of increasingly formidable obstacles.
Read MorePacing in writing refers to the rate at which a story unfolds. The narrative pace will change over the course of a novel, slowing and speeding up at different places.
Generally, a writer wants to keep the pace moving to keep the reader engaged. The last thing a writer wants is a bored reader! However, a relentlessly fast pace can hinder the connection between the characters and exhaust the reader.
Read MoreMotifs—What the heck are they and why should you use them in your writing?
I will admit that, as a writer, I have often been asked, “What’s your book about?” but I’ve never even once been asked, “What are the motifs in your book?” It would appear that no one really thinks or cares about motifs, so why would a writer care to include them?
The answer is simple—motifs can add a layer of depth and meaning to your writing without being heavy-handed or interfering with your plot.
Read MoreCreating a character requires that a writer pay attention to the details they share. Describing a long list of traits will not necessarily create a character that is memorable or vivid. A few carefully chosen details can be much more effective.
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