In real life, most people have a tendency to talk about what they’re going to do before they do it. We’re lying on the couch of an evening, talking to the cat purring on our stomachs, and we say something like, “I really should take that trash out, shouldn’t I?” We may even have to […]
April 11, 2012 by 25 Comments NarrativeHow to Show the Passage of Time in Your Novel
The passage of time is one thing all stories have in common. In some stories, such as “The Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” by Ambrose Bierce, maybe only a few minutes pass. In some novels, such as James Michener’s Centennial, decades pass. In some books, we may even see millennia go by. But no matter how much time […]
April 4, 2012 by Leave a Comment CharactersTaking Full Advantage of Your Character’s Traits
Your characters are a sum total of their traits. Maybe your heroine is beautiful, sassy, vulnerable, and intelligent. Maybe your hero is strong, witty, quirky, and claustrophobic. Piled together these traits can create complex and memorable characters. But sometimes authors fail to take full advantage of their characters’ traits and, in so doing, waste their […]
March 7, 2012 by 18 Comments NarrativeAre You Giving Readers the Tools to Understand Your Story?
One of the reasons story beginnings are so tricky is the sheer volume of information the author has to share with readers, just to make sure readers understand what’s going on. This grows all the more true when your story is presenting unusual or unexpected characters or settings. The trick is sharing the information without […]
October 16, 2011 by 70 Comments Editing Your Novel5 Fun and Easy Ways to Lengthen Word Count
We see a lot of hype these days about books that are too long for agents or editors to consider. But what about books that are too short, in which we need to lengthen word count? In comparison to putting a too-long manuscript on a diet, fattening up a story often feels like trying to […]
June 5, 2011 by 132 Comments Most Common Writing MistakesMost Common Writing Mistakes: Overpowering First-Person Narrator
Stories told by a first-person narrator are increasingly popular these days. First-Person: “I went to school today.” Third-Person: “She went to school today.” First-person is often a narrative perspective that’s tricky to get right. The first-person narrator, more than any other type of narrator, is inclined to lapse into self-centered telling, in which the narrating […]
May 22, 2011 by 45 Comments NarrativeThe Kung Fu Panda Guide to Writing Action Scenes
You don’t have to love kung fuuuuuuu to enjoy a good action scene, but you do need to understand the basics of the action scenes scene if you’re going to blind readers from overexposure to your action awesomeness. Fight scenes, chase scenes, and other action extravaganzas appear in stories of every genre, so consider the […]
February 9, 2011 by 32 Comments NarrativeThree Places Where You Should Tell Instead of Show
Amid all the demands for authors to show, instead of tell, it can be easy to forget telling is still a vital part of any story. There are moments when summarizing is a decidedly better choice than dramatizing. The Reverse of the Medal, the brilliant eleventh installment in Patrick O’Brian’s esteemed Aubrey/Maturin series, offers several examples […]
January 19, 2011 by 25 Comments CharactersHow to Make Readers Feel Your Characters’ Emotions
I’m going to go out on a limb and speculate that your story forces your character to experience some pretty deep emotions. They might fall in love, or undergo the agony of a family member’s death, or even be wracked by guilt. Whatever the case, how do you go about portraying those emotions so powerfully […]
January 9, 2011 by 74 Comments Most Common Writing MistakesMost Common Writing Mistakes: Are You Using “There” as a Crutch?
When used as a pronoun, the utilitarian word “there” becomes an insidiously easy way for writers to get their point across. “There” gets the job done, no doubt about it. But using “there” at the beginning of sentences and phrases is the lazy way out. Whenever you see the word “there” used as a pronoun, […]
