As writers, we hear the phrase “Show, don’t tell” quite a bit. Like most things, there is more than one layer to this advice. A while back, I gave some advice on deep point of view, and in that post I did a section called Don’t Tell where I covered Read more
Lately, I’ve been thinking about marketing and what my books have to offer the world. I wrote a post a while back on defining your audience, but today I’d like to focus on what makes people want to buy books. Then I’ll go into some things you can identify in Read more
It’s time for another Character Under A Microscope post where I dig deep into character development. While most people pick up a story for the plot, they stay for the characters. Therefore, you want to make them as realistic and interesting as possible. Today, I want to discuss character mannerisms Read more
Have you ever read a story and felt cheated by the end? Perhaps there was some tense situation, but it turned out to be nothing. Or maybe the protagonist’s lover died but then in the end you’re told the two faked the death so they could run away together. Most Read more
Today, I want to talk about just one part of speech: adjectives. Unlike adverbs, these descriptors are more accepted in literature. However, some adjectives are better than others. Let’s get into three types of adjectives and how they should (or shouldn’t) be used in stories. First, we’ll talk about empty Read more
I’ve discussed pacing before, on a sentence-level and then scene-level, and now I’d like to look at it on a book-level. Whether you are planning to write a book or going back to one that’s already written, you’ll need to consider pacing so readers stay engaged. Too slow of pacing Read more
A while back I was asked a question about character backstory, and it’s stuck with me. I’ve done a post on initial characterization, but I want to zoom in and focus specifically on backstory today. It’s a crucial part of developing a story, but it’s also often misused. Let’s talk Read more
Today I thought it’d be fun to do an analysis on book covers and go over what aspects you should consider when planning your book publication. This will be helpful whether you are creating the book cover yourself, hiring a book cover designer, or just consulting with the publisher who Read more
How do you tell a story? Writers often talk about what you put into a story and the key elements such as setting, character, plot, etc. But what is needed to effectively communicate the tale to readers? When you tell a story, there are five different modes you can use Read more
Our post today in the Character Under a Microscope series is about liars. Regardless of how good humans try to be, we all lie. What kind of lies people are willing to tell defines part of their character. I’ve divided the world into six levels of liars, and I want Read more