In most cases, you will be telling your story from the point of views of your characters. Some novels stay with a single character viewpoint for the whole story, others will jump about between different people. But a useful technique for fleshing out your plot and building up a three dimensional world with living, breathing…
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Over the past few decades the landscape of publishing has changed to almost be unrecognisable. The dawn of the digital age has made publishing more accessible than ever before, with print on demand, digital publishing and users being more vocal with online feedback and having shorter attention spans and reading periods. In the past, self-publishing…
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I spent quite a few years writing before I plucked up the courage to join a writing group – but as soon as I did, I became an extreme convert and enthusiast. My only regret is that I didn’t join one sooner. Here are the main reasons you should join a writing group if you’re…
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Some authors prefer to describe the surroundings of their characters in broad brushstrokes and allow the reader’s imagination to fill in the rest. Others prefer to go into nauseating detail of every whiff, nook and cranny. How much detail you go into is really up to your taste and style, but once thing’s for certain…
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Despite the old adage, people constantly go around judging books by their cover. And in fact a book cover is a critical place to get across important information about the kind of book that can be expected within the pages. It’s not about grabbing the greatest number of people and compelling them to start reading,…
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Many new writers are confused about how to format their manuscript. Many of these issues arise from mixing the conventions for non-fiction, such as essays, with that of fiction. So here are a few guidelines: Indent each new paragraph Each new paragraph should be indented by about a half a centimetre, with the exception of…
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Many an hour has spent agonising over the first line of a novel. So much rides on those few words that are the gateway to those that followed. A great first line can make the hair on the back of your neck tingle, and grab you by the eyeballs, dragging you into the story. A…
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Some people can’t wait to show their work to others. It’s barely left their fingertips and they’re shoving it under someone’s nose, begging to be told how wonderful it is. Other people are secretive and private, hiding away in their little writing burrows and snapping at anyone who comes too close to their precious manuscript.…
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Procrastination We’ve all done it. Gone through work all week looking forward to that slot of time on Saturday afternoon where we’re going to get down and finally get started on that novel we’ve been meaning to write for years… but then when Saturday afternoon comes, suddenly we remember all these important things we have…
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What is point of view? If you want the obvious, then you can say that point of view is the perspective from which you view the story. But what does this actually mean? Well, there are two common writing styles – first person and third person. First Person In a first person story your point…
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