WWYD (“What would you do?”) is a common question in writing groups. It happens when an author reaches an impasse in the story for the character’s actions. So often it comes across like a popularity contest: I’ll have the character do whatever most of them say they’ll do, and that will make my story popular.ContinueContinue reading “Stop asking WWYD”
Category Archives: advice
Don’t take my word for it
With the proliferation of places to self-publish your stories, there’s a lot more reading material out there to choose from. Some authors might say marketing is their secret. They know what their readers like and they know where they go to find reading material, and they buy ads to reach them. But a lot ofContinueContinue reading “Don’t take my word for it”
Advice for when writers struggle
Writer’s block. Some say it exists. Some say it doesn’t; it’s all in your head. Pointedly, both sides are right. Everything about story writing is in your head. Until it moves to your fingers to the rhythm of a swishing pen, or the clickety-clack of keys on a keyboard. Author Peggy Lantz posted about herContinueContinue reading “Advice for when writers struggle”
Going Serial
Some writers start at the beginning of their writing plans and know that they want to write a series. Others have a vague idea. Still others, however, may not realize they are writing a series until either, they near the end of the draft of the first book, or they get feedback and reviews fromContinueContinue reading “Going Serial”
More thoughts on character building
Characters are so crucial to storytelling that there is a lot of advice about how to build them. There’s D&D style charts, and there’s Meyers-Briggs personalities. Some writers use zodiacs, and some use tropes. When you have a trait, or a trope, what can often happen when you get down to the actual writing isContinueContinue reading “More thoughts on character building”
Building Writers’ Resources
Photo by Julia M Cameron on Pexels.com You may have noticed a new menu item at the top of the page titled “Resources.” I’m going to populate this area of the site with resources to help writers with some phase of the writing (such as beginnings, middles, and ends), crafting plots, subplots, scenes, and editing,ContinueContinue reading “Building Writers’ Resources”
When to type “The End”
(by the way, it’s not actually good manuscript formatting to type “The End” at the end of your manuscript. Yeah. Really.) Photo by Julia M Cameron on Pexels.com “How do I end my book?” “Is this a good ending?” “Should I use an epilogue?” I’ve heard these in my writing group numerous times. I’ve heardContinueContinue reading “When to type “The End””
Proofreading
Today is National Proofreading Day. I thought I’d talk a bit about what proofreading actually is and where it fits in the process of getting your manuscript ready for readers. Prepublication’s final step The first thing to begin to understand about proofreading is that it is the last editing step before publication. Proofreading is doneContinueContinue reading “Proofreading”
more about story goals
When discussing how long a scene should be, I mentioned a concept called a scene goal. The scene goal is a step toward achieving the overall story goal. The story goal is the main character’s goal. It’s a situation or outcome they want and are convinced they need in order to be happy. There canContinueContinue reading “more about story goals”
Loose ends
In the same vein as several previous articles, this week I’m going to discuss getting your draft manuscript (possibly the one you worked on for NaNoWriMo just past) ready for other eyes. This might be when you are self-editing, or getting the work ready for beta readers or a professional editor. Stories are driven byContinueContinue reading “Loose ends”
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