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All novel writers seek to pen a story that keeps readers reading. Writing Tip for Today: Here are some tips on how to keep readers reading your novel: Your Protagonist The main objective of your protagonist is to achieve a goal. While that goal may be overt and obvious (to catch a killer), it could […]
Writing fictional characters who learn and grow or find redemption is this week’s topic. Writing Tip for Today: What are some ways to write redemptive characters? Start with Loss An effective character is one with a goal. This implies that the person has lost something or hasn’t ever achieved it—but who longs to. The character […]
Writing descriptions of characters, settings or other items requires details. But which details matter? Writing Tip for Today: Here are some tips for writing effective details: Paint a Picture Readers need mental images in order to imagine your story. You supply details to help them conjure the images you want them to have. What many […]
Many who write novels seem to lean on Prologues to start their stories. Here are the pros and cons. Writing Tip for Today: Good reasons for and against including prologues in novels and memoirs: Prologue Purpose Including a prologue in your novel suggests that certain bits of background information are necessary before the story proper […]
Novelists draw from their own lives to make their scenes come alive. But too much autobiographical material can sink your fiction. Writing Tip for Today: Let’s discuss ways to keep your fiction (and memoir) from becoming too “I”-centric. Write What You Know We write out of our own experiences—and that’s a good thing. Yet if […]
Fiction and memoir writers everywhere grapple with the all-important story question: What does my character want more than anything? Writing Tip for Today: Here are a few tips for defining your character’s main goal: Be the Character Most good actors say they must learn to be inside a character’s skin to be convincing to the […]
In writing fiction, your character’s strengths and weaknesses determine the story’s trajectory, conflict and emotion. Writing Tip for Today: Here are some ways to identify and then utilize your character’s strengths and weaknesses: Your Character’s Story Place any character into the point-of-view role and you’ll likely have different versions of a story. Your main character’s […]
Whether you’re writing fiction or memoir, your characters must do the heavy lifting for your readers. Writing Tip for Today: What are some ways to make your characters “truer?” Light Up the World You invent characters or in the case of memoir, you reimagine them. Inside your head these characters are fully formed. The hard […]
A few weeks before Christmas, I’m as frantic and busy as ever. My moods are happy, sad, exhausted, cynical, and more as I try to get all the things done. But what do my fluctuating emotions have to do with writing? Writing Tip for Today: How can we harness our emotions to produce better writing? […]
When it comes to fiction, writing your dialogue right is an essential skill. Readers want to experience the story as if they’re watching a movie, so it stands to reason that what your characters say is important. Writing Tip for Today: Here are some easy ways to improve your dialogue: Know Thy Character One of […]