Writing a strong premise before you begin working on story structure (if you are a plotter) or just starting to write (if you are a panster) is important for a number of reasons. First, it will help you bring the idea for your story to life, and it is one of the foundational steps in … Read more
Can a shapeshifter character add twists and turns to your plot and make your novel more dynamic?
Last time, we talked about the inciting incident— a great place to start thinking about the plot of your novel. This time I’d like you to think about the climax, which is the next plot point I think you should consider. The climax is that point in the narrative where the conflict or tension reaches … Read more
It\’s summer which is a reminder for me to evaluate my writing progress. While I don\’t make New Year\’s Resolutions at the beginning of the year, I do make a list of goals. I never achieve them perfectly, but I do move closer to achieving them over time, and I do the work step-by-step to … Read more
You know how it is. You are some place, maybe waiting in a long line, or at the car repair shop. You strike up a conversation with someone. You talk about the wait time, or the weather, or the food, or some safe topic. Inevitably, the conversation will get around to the business of what … Read more
Should you write a prologue for your novel? I am biased, I admit, but here\’s some information to help you decide.
It’s been a rough week for me to write regularly. What started out as floor repair is now floormageddon. My house has a Gothic horror show’s worth of dust in every nook and cranny as the contractor chips up concrete and repairs the subfloor. I am looking forward to getting back to my routine…all the … Read more
What is writer’s block? If you look on Wikipedia, writer’s block is a “condition.” Writer’s block is a condition, primarily associated with writing, in which an author loses the ability to produce new work, or experiences a creative slowdown. The condition ranges in difficulty from coming up with original ideas to being unable to produce a … Read more
The Writer’s Bag of Tricks Scene Writing It’s been a while. We last discussed writing in scenes in April, which seems a very long time ago. So let’s refresh. Writing in scenes is the idea that if you plot out your novel in scenes, and you focus on writing the best possible scene, one scene … Read more