Writing Advice From A YA Author Powered By Chocolate And Green Tea
Sometimes the best plotting in the world and wonderfully written characters aren't enough to save a story so boring even readers who can't not finish a novel consider putting it down. That's what can happen when your book lacks suspense, and if you're afraid of this happening to you, here are some ideas that might …
There's nothing more fun as a reader than slipping wholly into the point of view of a character. It's also creatively satisfying to be a writer who can master such a skill. Writing your book from the perspectives of your characters and getting it right forms a connection for both you and the reader, so …
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 …
Writing a book takes time. Even if you're a fast drafter and can put something together in a matter of weeks instead of months or years, working through the multiple drafts it takes to reach the final draft is still tough. You're so exhausted at the end, that the thought of starting again at a blank …
When writing a book, plenty of effort goes into building our characters or working out our plots that sometimes the setting of your book world gets a little lost. This can happen if you're afraid of bogging the reader down in too much detail, worried you'll slow the pace by stopping to explain things, or …
You might think confusing characters only happen in movies. It's easy to get characters visually mixed up when the actors/actresses have the same good looks and do-good temperament. But it happens on the page too. And why wouldn't it? The characters come from the mind of one person, the voice of one writer, and that …
When you’re a writer who works full time and/or has tiny humans to care for, sitting down to write can be impossible. You can go days without ever getting near your computer, let alone time to scribble a note on your phone or a scrap of paper. When you hit a rut like this, it …
Continue reading Incidental Writing: How To Write When Life Keeps You From Your Keyboard
Ah, deep POV. It's something I'd never heard of when I started writing and was something I wasn't even doing a year ago. Since learning this wonderful writing trick (which you can read about here), I've added a new depth to my writing and upgraded to being a serious writer. As with any new skill …
Continue reading How To Tell If Your Writing Has Slipped Out Of Deep POV
If you've been following my blog for the last few months, you'll know I've been spending this year working on rewrites. I'm currently rewriting the second book in my YA series, Blackbirch. I wrote the first draft of book two in 2003, the fifth draft in 2018, and that's the one I'm rewriting now in 2019. …
