Do you struggle to write short? Is your style more Hemingway or Faulkner? There are famous authors known for writing long, beautiful sentences. It’s not easy. But, either is writing one that can cut like a knife in six words or less. For this month’s blog, I wanted to discuss ways to strengthen our work by using fewer words. My first job was writing for a newspaper. Editors expected me to strip away unnecessary words. They weren’t as strict about … Read More »

The world you create for your readers has to be a place they can picture in their minds. It has to be believable, even if it’s a fantasy world. It’s like a base camp; your reader needs to be able to settle there and feel comfortable as they acquaint themselves with the characters you create and the adventures you send them on. My novel-in-progress is set in two time periods — present-day New York City and 14th century Scotland. I … Read More »

Part one focused on getting to know the WHO of your character. Now that you know who your character is, it’s time to focus on WHY your character behaves the way they do. Your protagonist needs to be the strongest, most developed character in your story. How do you do that? Let’s start with the backside of the worksheet from the first post in this series. You can find it here: https://docs.google.com/file/d/10VGR9cS_HI0s9cHduwB8lKH41CNx-kW3/edit?filetype=msword You should fill out as much as needed … Read More »

As we all know, point of view (POV) is the personage from whose perspective we readers perceive the action of the novel. Back in the nineteenth century, authors tended to go for the “omniscient narrator” — a disembodied, god-like voice that took no personal part in the action, that could see what was in the heart of everyone, could see what the villains were up to behind the protagonist’s back, and could see what everybody looked like. Could see, in … Read More »

Whether you’ve traveled to Key West or the Far East, your travels matter. Your travel stories can matter to readers near and far, too. Lots of folks want to experience travel-free travel — to travel vicariously with someone who can communicate the experience in an ordered and interesting way. Would you like to give those readers that chance? Traveler or tourist? “The traveler sees what he sees. The tourist sees what he has come to see.” ― G.K. Chesterton Travel … Read More »

These days there are so many wonderful digital tools, websites, software options and widgets to assist writers with their work. Whether you’re using good old Microsoft Word or the slightly newer more fiction-friendly Scrivener, you probably have your own process and your own spin on how you like to draft your writing. Some writers like to mix and match their digital and their analog options, as well. I like to bounce around between Google Docs and Scrivener myself, depending on … Read More »