As a writer who loves to error on the side of too much rather than too little, I often struggle against the big bad word count when writing novels. I always need to cut. Cut words. Cut subplots. Cut characters. The latter being the hardest for me as character development Read more
There is a lot of writing advice out there, and most of it is just based on what works best for the writer. Every now and then, I like to do a post on simplifying all the writing advice. If you are overwhelmed by the writing craft, my hope is Read more
Today, I want to do something a little different. Instead of teaching a new concept, I’d like to revisit an old topic and focus on practical application. There is so much information thrown out for writers to learn, and often the application part of it is left for writers to Read more
A while ago I wrote a post on the seven types of memorable last lines, but I never flipped it to write about opening lines. Mostly because I was intimidated by the topic. One of my weaknesses as a writer is opening scenes, so speaking on opening lines (where people Read more
Let’s go back to our Character Under a Microscope series (when we dive into little details of character development) and talk about attachment styles in relationships. When creating your characters, most will be in a romantic relationship at some point during the story. When crafting these subplots, writers have to Read more
I’ve written a post on writing significant stakes and another on raising the stakes, but today I want to talk about layering stakes. How do you stack stakes to really grip your readers? Let’s do a quick review on story stakes, and then we’ll discuss layering them and practical ways Read more
One of the biggest issues I see when editing manuscripts is the story starts out slow. So many authors struggle with where to start their story, and most people need to cut pages in the manuscript’s beginning during their edits. So how do you know where to start for the Read more
The act of writing is a solo job, but being a writer is not a solo career. We can’t do it alone, and if you are trying to, you’re going to burn out. It’s important to get help where and when you can. I make it a point to write Read more
There is a misconception amongst some writers that a summary of your book for a query letter is like writing a back of the book blurb. However, while there are some similarities, these summaries cannot be swapped one for another. They have different purposes and a different way of presenting Read more
Lately, I’ve been focusing my studies on words. Not story. Words. Specifically, how to put them together to write a pleasing sentence. Now, I am by no means a literary writer. My prose is not elevated, but there is something to be said about knowing how to write a sentence Read more