If you follow me on social media, you’ll know I’ve spent the last few months editing my latest WIP. It’s book 3 in my Urban Fantasy YA series, Blackbirch, and I’m aiming to have it published in the first half of this year. I spent most of 2020 rewriting the draft I penned back in …
Dialogue is an important part of any story and essential to get right. Good dialogue can reveal twists, unveil character traits, motivations, change the direction of the story, and give your cliffhangers the perfect bite—I mean, who doesn't love the final line of a scene ending in a suspenseful piece of dialogue! While it's up …
We all have a writing habit that no matter how much we grow as a writer, sticks with us. For many writers (myself included), stage directing is one of those habits, and it takes the form of describing every physical move a character makes, beyond what's necessary. Because this habit happens naturally, it's usually hard …
You know that meme where writers name their files "Final Draft", "Final Draft 2", "Final Draft 3", "Really Final Draft", "Really, Really Final Draft", "Seriously Final Draft" etc. I get that. I'm currently working on the sixth draft of an MS I literally named "Final Draft" three drafts ago. Past-Me probably thought it would be. Present-Me …
I don't know about you, but when I write, I don't really plan. Sure, I might have an idea of what I want to write about, but generally, I'll write until something takes shape. That creative freedom is what I love about writing. It's also a double-edged sword because you've got to somehow make sense of …
Just as no two writers will write an idea the same way, drafting is a unique process as well. Some authors may draft their MS in as little as five passes, others (raises hand) might have 20 odd drafts under their belt for certain works in progress. When drafting is such a mammoth task, it's …
Continue reading 6 Draft Checklist Ideas (And Why You Should Create Your Own)
“Keep your prose active.” It’s one of the most well-known pieces of writing advice and one of the most frustrating. Sometimes when writing, especially when you’re first starting out, you have no idea what words are making your prose non-active. You’re just writing, using the words that sound right. It’s not until you see the difference creating an …
Not all words are created equal, and as a writer, you can devote many hours to finding the best perfect one. While playing with word choice and re-writing sentences until you get them just right can help capture what you’re trying to invoke, a weak word can do the opposite. But how do you know …
K.M. Allan 