While checklists are a great way to whip your MS into shape, the thought of running through a vast set of tasks when you’ve just completed an MS after months, or even years of drafts, can be overwhelming. You want to ensure your manuscript is the best it can be, but you’re also so very …
When writing a story, it’s necessary to give your readers information. They need to know what’s happening, who your characters are, where they are, and why they’re doing what they’re doing. Delivering that information can be done in various ways, all of which are great elements to mix throughout your book to keep things interesting. …
Continue reading Writing A Book: Information Delivery Elements
Whether it’s professionally organized, a DIY job, with fellow writers, or flying solo, a writing retreat is a great way to spend focused time with your current WIP. It can help you hit deadlines, make editing progress, give you the space and time to create an in-depth outline or write anything from draft one to …
While a great premise, unforgettable characters, and a fantastic fictional world are surefire ways to keep readers invested in your story, if everything is smooth sailing for your characters, it makes for a pretty boring tale. Even the happiest of stories requires some upheaval, a hook, to keep the reader on board. But don’t worry, …
Continue reading 3 Ways To Mess Up Your Character’s World And Hook Your Readers
Whether your book is full of action scenes, or requires just one, getting the balance right is a skill worthy of any writer, and can be achieved with some simple do's and don'ts! Action Scene Do's And Don'ts Do Make Things Clear There’s nothing worse than reading an action scene and not being able to …
A classic piece of writing advice is to hook the reader with the first sentence. While what makes a great sentence is so subjective that such advice is near impossible to achieve, it’s the sentiment that is sound. You want to grab the reader with your opening so that they’ll want to pick up and …
Continue reading How To Create A Read-Worthy Opening Chapter
There’s so much to keep on top of when writing a book that it's easy to forget the little details, like what your characters are wearing or what movie they saw on the first date with their love interest. While you might think such things aren’t super special to know, or that you wouldn’t let …
Every writer knows they need to nail the ending of their book to give readers the satisfaction they deserve, but what about the endings of your chapters? If you've put little thought into how you’re finishing your chapters, then you’re missing out on a key component of what makes a good book great! After all, …
As a writer penning a book, there will be times when no matter how tight you’ve made your storyline, or how close you’ve stuck to your planned number of pages, you’ve gone over your word count. And not by a little. You've gone over it by a lot. So much so that you’re 20,000 extra …
K.M. Allan 