If you’ve been among writers at all, you’ve probably heard them say “kill your darlings” a time or two. It’s important to realize this is not writing advice. It’s editing advice. When you’re writing, you should follow your passion in Read more…
We all know how important a book’s first page is for catching a reader’s attention. It’s arguably one of the most stressful parts of a book to write, but there is no real set way to ensure you do it Read more…
After a book has been through critiques and beta readers, it’s usually ready for the public. At this point, once all your edits are completed, you want to have some proofreaders. These readers are people who go through the book Read more…
Last week we discussed how to give a critique of a manuscript as a writer, and this week I want to cover how to give feedback as a reader. Beta readers are people who read through the story to see Read more…
As writers, we inevitably meet other writers who ask if we can read their manuscript and give them some feedback. If this happens, you need to first establish if they want a critique as a fellow writer, feedback as a Read more…
Subplots are like mini stories, but they must support and enhance the main plot. That last point often gets overlooked, but it’s very important. If you have a subplot that does nothing to broaden or deepen your main plot, then Read more…
When I first started writing professionally, I felt that there was no such thing as writer’s block. In my opinion, ideas were everywhere, and I thought that if you couldn’t write then you were just being lazy. As I’ve become Read more…
Scenes are units of story that, when stacked together, make up a whole story. A scene happens in one time and space from one POV and must have a change arc. In this post, we are going to explore three Read more…
You may have heard the terms character driven and plot driven and assumed you knew what they meant, but this concept is harder to grasp than it seems. I originally thought I wrote character driven fantasies, but I’ve recently been Read more…
After I finish my first draft of a book, I like to take a break and then come back with fresh eyes to do a book analysis before doing any rewriting. My analysis basically entails me rereading the book and Read more…