“Don’t tell me the moon is shining. Show me the glint of light on broken glass.” Anton Chekhov If you’ve been writing for any amount of time, you’ve probably come across the phrase ‘show don’t tell’. Like many pieces of writing advice, it’s extremely useful – up to a point. However – also like many…
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There are many ways to write a novel – and I’m not talking planners and pantsers right now. I’m talking about how you get the actual novel from your head and onto a sheet of paper (even if that’s a digital sheet of paper). Some people swear by old school pen and paper, writing everything out longhand. Others…
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Worldbuilding can be a great deal of fun, and if you master it, you can transport your readers anywhere you desire. You can send them deep into ocean worlds, have them feel the wind in their hair as they soar with dragons, or experience a culture where the most important currency is scent. But creating…
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So you’ve finished your manuscript—congratulations! Penning a novel is no small achievement. But if you’re aiming for publication, your job is far from done. You have another writing project that rivals your manuscript in importance: your query letter. A query letter (also known as a cover letter) is a short pitch of your manuscript and…
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Wouldn’t it be great if you could learn how to write faster? You’d have the first draft of your novel completed much more quickly, avoid all the usual delays and snags, and publish in record time — and finishing your first draft quickly does matter. After all, most of us don’t have the luxury of being able…
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Do you worry about plot holes in your story? You want to give your readers an engrossing, believable experience. You don’t want a glaring spotlight shining on the gaps you failed to correct in your story. So do you have to find and fix every plot hole you can? Well, it depends. Can glaring plot…
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Finishing and publishing your novel is tough, no doubt about it. Writing a book is a big project. Writers commonly underestimate everything that’s involved. And that’s a problem, because you run the risk of wasting time, missing critical steps, or having to circle back for extensive rewrites. You might even feel frustrated enough to want…
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Guest Author: Dave Chesson Whether you love them or hate them, prologues are frequently a big part of fiction, especially in certain genres like fantasy or science fiction. A prologue can be a bit confusing. If it’s the first part of your book, why not just make it chapter one? What separates a prologue from…
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Are you itching to try your hand at writing a thriller? Or perhaps you’ve already written one, or more, but feel that they lack a certain je ne sais quoi? People love stories that keep them on the edge of their seats, hold them in suspense, and get their hearts racing. And the thriller genre is one…
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If you’re a new writer, you know it can be frustrating to have lots of ideas and no clue how to turn those ideas into a book. If you’re more experienced, you know it can take some time and experimentation to find the approach that works best for you. There are many popular and proven…
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