You need a novel manifesto. Why? Because you’re never going to be completely objective about your stories. Trust me. You’re just too emotionally involved, too attached to your characters, too excited about your plot twists, too tickled by your snarky dialogue. And the only thing wrong with any of that is that it can make you lose sight […]
January 31, 2010 by 54 Comments Story Settings4 Setting Questions That Will Deepen Your Characters
In the best of stories, setting is an inherent key, not just in bringing to life the scenery, but in helping you deepen your characters. As such, it isn’t something any author can afford to overlook. Answer the following setting questions to find the weak points in your setting construction and help you use it to […]
December 27, 2009 by 45 Comments Chapter Breaks10 Killer Chapter Breaks
Chapter breaks are do-or-die territory for novelists. You may be spinning a grand ol’ tale, full of fascinating characters, but if your chapter endings leave readers no reason to turn the page to find out what happens next, all your hard work on the other aspects of your story will be wasted. Not every chapter […]
October 25, 2009 by 36 Comments Writing InspirationWant to Take Your Story to the Next Level? Punch Readers in the Gut!
Writing is not only an intellectual endeavor for me, it’s also very much a physical one. When I’m on to the right story, the right location, the right situation, the right theme, my body tells me. I feel a surge of excitement in my solar plexus that literally sends the message Yes yes yes! to […]
October 18, 2009 by 49 Comments Outlining Your NovelShould You Outline Your Book Backwards?
When you think of outlines, you generally think organization, right? The whole point of outlining, versus the seat-of-the-pants method, is to give the writer a road map, a set of guidelines, a plan. It only makes sense that an outline should be simple, streamlined, and linear. An outline should put things in order. So you’re […]
October 3, 2009 by 16 Comments Outlining Your NovelWhat If: The Two Most Powerful Words in a Writer’s Repertoire
Almost all writers are familiar with the power of the “what if” question. Every novel, story, and article is inspired by those words, even when the question isn’t articulated. Many of us, however (myself included up until a few years ago) fail to tap the question’s full potential. Why? Simply because we don’t make a conscious effort to answer it. […]
August 16, 2009 by 36 Comments CharactersBackstory: The Importance of What Isn’t Told
When Ernest Hemingway spoke about the dignity of an iceberg being “due to only one-eighth of it being above water,” he was speaking about the importance of the part of the story that isn’t told. Those seven-eighths underwater are the ballast for the tiny bit that juts up to glisten in the sun. And, more […]
July 26, 2009 by 30 Comments Writing LifeScrivener Too Expensive? Try the Free Writing Software yWriter (Video Tutorial)
Over the years, I’ve dabbled with various writing software and have always found them wanting. I’d pretty much given up on the hope of finding a program that would meet my needs as a writer… and then someone introduced me to yWriter. yWriter was designed by author and programmer Simon Haynes, who saw the same […]
April 12, 2009 by 17 Comments Plotting Your Novel6 Things Your Characters Want–and 4 Ways to Keep Them Frustrated
We authors are pretty mean folk. Here we are, creating characters whom we love almost as much as our family and friends–and yet every day, on every page, we make them suffer. We figure out what characters want and then refuse to give it to them. Actually, truth be known, we kind of enjoy making […]
January 17, 2009 by 36 Comments Outlining Your NovelOutline Your Novel: The 5-Step Game Plan
Generally speaking, writers fall into two different categories: outliners and non-outliners (or, as my critique partner Linda Yezak has dubbed them, “seat-of-the-pantsters”). I’m an outliner. Mostly, I outline because I’m lazy. I hate rewriting; I hate watching my burst of pride and relief at the end of a novel dissipate in a realization of a hole-riddled […]
