It’s a tough world out there for the soon to be author. The competition is fierce and the skepticism is even greater. There are countless websites offering advice on anything […]
1. Keep Opinions to Yourself A major pitfall of the amateur writer is to cheat by describing scenery with an opinion, when they should make the scene project that feeling […]
Article posted by Nina Davies with the permission of Cheryl Kaye Tardif. A Murder Wall is a vital tool for crime novelists. Imagine trying to write a story without knowing […]
“Just be like that,” she pouted. “Oh, come on,” he groaned. “Not this again.” “You don’t love me,” she replied. “Right,” he snarled. “That’s why I bought you an eight […]
In any story, half of the information given to the reader is never spoken out loud. It’s body language, and body language can tell your reader what your character is […]
Giving life to a character is one of the most rewarding parts of being a writer. It is also one of the most difficult. Too many times in fiction we […]
Have you ever read a court transcript? It accurately gives a word-by-word report of exactly what is said. But it is interesting? Uh-uh. If we wrote verbatim the way we […]
Building a fictional character is the same thing as meeting a stranger and getting to know her. Take that meeting one step at a time, or as the old saying […]
CATHERINE’S 3 C’S FOR COMPELLING CONVERSATION: Dialogue Tips from Catherine Mann Character: Age/Jargon: Make dialogue age appropriate Idiosyncrasies: Give characters words, phrases, even curses, specific to their personalities Dialects: Use […]
Conflict is very important in a romance novel — and really in any kind of a novel at all. What would the story of Romeo and Juliet be without the […]
