I’m currently working on the BIG ENDING for my five book series, Chrysalis Chronology. I wrote the first 50,000 words during National Novel Writing Month in 2014. The first 50k came easy, getting them done with more than 10 days … Continue reading
It is a mistake to introduce the reader to many characters at once… apparently. I just read this great rule on the Writers Village blog: “The Golden Rules are: give each character a name that starts with a different letter, … Continue reading
About using the word MOMENT: What is a moment? A short, or undefined amount of time. Often I use this word interchangeably with ‘minutes’ or ‘short length of time.’ But when is it appropriate to use the word ‘moments’? Here … Continue reading
When I first started writing, I used too many attributions because I thought that was what I was supposed to do to keep things clear for the reader. But I’ve learned how to better use attributions from suggestions from my … Continue reading
Writing Critique Groups are great! I just received a helpful email from Amy in my writing group. It was very helpful to me because it was succinct, almost like a rule. Her note also covers the topic of Scenes vs … Continue reading
I had a scene in my book, The Smart Kid, where I named a student who had no role in the story at all. His only purpose was to bring up a historical topic about the Equal Education bill for … Continue reading
OMG! I know that is a silly, juvenile way to express amazement, but I’m doing it that way today because I feel quite enthused about what I just learned about writing with subtext. I’d heard podcasts before that discussed subtext. … Continue reading
I’ve learned that a novel can be written in a number of Point of Views: 1st, 2nd, or 3rd. First person is a popular form because it allows the author to write from a person’s perspective and revealing the character’s … Continue reading
As an aspiring writer who hated high school English class, I have a lot to learn about the basic syntax and rules to follow when writing a novel. So I listen to many, many podcasts about writing. I discovered this … Continue reading
I submit my work for critique at the local Writer’s Club. Here is something I learned from one reviewer: I had a conversation that was written like this: (The sentences are incomplete for this example.) “Did you hear that ….” … Continue reading