How to Name Your Characters in a Novel
Choosing the right name for a character in your novel can be as hard as choosing the right name for your child (if not harder). An author wants her characters’ names to be memorable and meaningful and to fit each character so well that no other name will do. InRead More …
Writer’s Block? Need to re-light that inspiration spark? Read on . . .
It happens to every writer eventually. You get hit with the best idea to date. The need to tell it is so strong and clear and powerful, you almost feel possessed to write it. You sit down at your computer (or put pen to paper) and the words seem toRead More …
A Formula for Fiction — plot paradigm
Few like to admit that good fiction writing is formulaic. To do so would suggest that everyone is writing a variation of the same story. However, it seems there are some ground rules that many writers and editors agree on that when combined together, at least hint at a formula forRead More …
Thinking about using song lyrics in your book? You might want to change your mind.
For some reason, many aspiring bookwriters put someone else’s lyrics in their books. We’ve discovered that about 65% of the manuscripts we’ve received so far include snippets of song lyrics written by someone other than the writer of the manuscript in question. We understand the temptation. Lyrics do a wonderfulRead More …
What Makes a Great First Chapter? (We’re talking fiction right now.)
The elusive great first chapter! Everyone writer wants to create one and too many think they already did. If only there was a tool, a guide, a checklist of sorts a writer could refer to . . . Voila! Here’s what we think makes a great first chapter. Actually, uponRead More …