Select All
  • Adding without padding
    26 2 1

    So you want to submit your fantastic novel to a publisher, but discover you are a few thousand words short of their lower limit for submissions. Here are some ways to add words and strengthen your work at the same time.

  • Series or Serial?
    57 7 3

    With the book industry bursting at the seams with multi-book collections, it is important to know what you are writing and how to take advantage of the strengths of your chosen format. Are you writing a series or a serial? Why does it matter?

  • Writing Emotionally Gripping Scenes
    163 15 1

    How do you write a scene where your reader is as emotionally affected as you are writing it? The secret is in setting up the scene carefully, preparing your ground and most importantly putting the emotions into the characters.

  • The Joy of Nuance
    119 16 3

    Find yourself using smile, nod, shrug as two word beats? Falling into the temptation of alternative speech tags, like whimpered, howled, farted? Running out of synonyms for walked? Nuance is what you need. Taken regularly before and during writing, Nuance is known to increase the readability and interest of your writi...

  • Why to write close up instead of wide angle.
    145 16 1

    What do you do when a critique points out that you have way too many sentences starting with pronouns? How about those dreaded filter verbs? Or the passive voice? One solution is to go through each instance and play around with names, or rewriting the filter and passive verbs. The other solution, which will take your...

  • Learn to Loathe Search: Editing Tips
    229 25 1

    Editing can be expensive and take a long time. Here are a few tips to do a lot editing yourself. It will still take a lot of work. These tips focus on particular words that cause problems in writing. Use the search function in your word processor to find and change problematic words.

    Completed  
  • Don't think, don't feel
    78 7 1

    It is time to add some description to your scene. Likely you are filtering your story unnecessarily by telling us what how the character is experiencing the scene, instead of letting us go along for the ride.

    Completed  
  • The Book Review
    140 8 1

    A good book review will go a long way to helping you sell your book. It is important to go about getting reviews in a professional manner.

    Completed  
  • The Blurb: Life and Death in 50 words or less
    443 21 1

    The Blurb is often the first thing that your reader will see. Write a blurb that will captivate the imagination in 50 words or less.

    Completed  
  • Dialogue: Getting conversant with conversation.
    396 13 1

    Completed  
  • Cliches: Let's just not think about that.
    334 22 1

    Cliches are everywhere. The trick is not to avoid anything that smells of cliche, but to make it yours and lift it out of the realm of lazy writing.

    Completed  
  • Plotting to save your life.
    307 17 1

    So you can't write a good plot to save your life. This is the place for you.

    Completed  
  • Character Assassination
    234 18 1

    Completed  
  • The Swamp in the Middle of your Story.
    248 15 1

    At some point in every story you must enter the swamp.

    Completed  
  • Suspense! What keeps the pages turning.
    531 22 1

    Creating suspense is a vital part of plotting your story. It isn't just for thrillers and mysteries either. It is the secret ingredient to any good story.

    Completed  
  • No one likes a Passive Hero, fixed
    432 24 1

    This article represented a colossal mistake on my part, and now I am fixing the mistake. Gooshy tomatoes are available at the end of the article for tossing at me for my failure. Was + verb does not automatically count as a passive voice sentence. Dive in and let me explain what passive voice really is. Why you still...

    Completed  
  • Show,Tell and Narrative Summary
    519 18 1

    Critiquers like to say that you need show rather than tell your story. What does that mean anyway and is there ever a time when you should tell instead of show?

    Completed  
  • A Guide to Head Hopping: Person and Point of View
    536 20 1

    How point of view and person can help or hurt your story.

    Completed  
  • Description - more than just a pretty face
    487 27 1

    How and why to put descriptive text into your story.

    Completed  
  • Break Dancing or Where to End a Chapter
    476 18 1

    It is like dancing with your story. You need to feel the rhythm, but still stay in control.

    Completed  
  • Weight: Keeping things in balance.
    165 10 1

  • I find my ideas under cabbage leaves...
    225 11 1

    Where do ideas come from and how do you turn them into stories?

    Completed  
  • Character: More than a great head of hair
    288 15 1

  • Of Publishing and Things
    1.2K 19 5

    The book is written and the world is waiting. Now it is time to put that thing into print and see how it sells. The process of formatting and publishing through print-on-demand, and how to help your baby survive the meatgrinder!