First Five Words Writer’s Challenge
Our writers’ group challenge for November was First Five Words: come up with the opening line of a novel in […]
Writing
Posts on the craft of writing
The Author as Translator
A revelation about my fantasy series: I’m the author as translator. Put another way, my characters don’t speak English… Listen
The Prose that Defies Editing
For me, the hardest part of writing fiction is fixing the prose that defies editing. In my head, my prose
The Story Premise that Pitches the Novel
I’ve found multiple sources of the Story Premise that pitches the novel. Longer than a simple logline, shorter than either
Seven Key First Chapter Questions
Abigail Perry’s Seven Key First chapter Questions are touchstones. They apply not only to opening chapters, but to every chapter
Writing the Last Chapter
Writing the last chapter doesn’t mean getting to the end of the plot. Whatever is in the last chapter is
Direct and Indirect Dialogue
What’s the difference between direct and indirect dialogue? And why do we need both? Listen to the audio version on
Eight Types of Surprises
The reader hook you didn’t know you needed: Eight Types of Surprises to keep the reader turning those pages. Jessie
The Character Growth Worksheet
If you’re stuck developing a character for your story, look no further than Jeff Elkins‘ Character Growth Worksheet. A favourite
Abandonment Issues and the Feisty Heroine
I realise I have two common themes in my fiction: abandonment issues and the feisty heroine. This feeds directly into