These thoughts are aimed at those who are writing a series, as I have been. It’s begun to feel like I’m writing the same book over and over! Why? Because the characters and their sitz im leben need to be reintroduced each time, in case (a very likely case) someone picks up Book Three without having read Books One or Two. Just how much grounding in the continuum of the series is necessary for each episode? That depends on the … Read More »

Every story needs details—it’s what helps bring it to life for the reader. Details set stories apart from one another and enable the writer to introduce seemingly insignificant nuggets that may play a major role as the story progresses. The challenge for the writer is to find the acceptable ratio of details to plot without drowning the reader in details. Let’s examine a few pitfalls and see what we can learn from them. Example: A historical fiction novel features a … Read More »

Writers create images with words, and the techniques used are called literary devices. Because of the wide variety of literary devices, we will examine them in groups. In this article, we review the literary devices used to compare and contrast. By comparing and contrasting things, the author invites the reader to see a deeper truth. Use these devices to emphasize an idea, a character, or important moment in the story. Analogy An analogy clarifies by comparison. Unlike simile and metaphor, … Read More »

New York may be the city so nice they named it twice, but when it comes to novels, most readers want a point well made once and not battered home in multiple forms. There are several ways this can happen. One is by showing and telling the same fact. Here’s what I mean: She was steaming with frustration. “Why can’t you ever be on time?” she cried. Nothing is really incorrect about this, but it could be tighter. Her words … Read More »

Writers, whether plotters or pantsers, inevitably get stuck somewhere along the way in the creation of their story and struggle to find a way forward. It’s a situation I’m familiar with, and it brought to mind a Robert Burns quote: “The best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry.” So, what’s a writer to do other than stare at the screen like a zombie for hours on end or throw their hands in the air and walk away in … Read More »

Titles are so important. After noticing the cover and spine art, what’s the next thing a reader looks at? Maybe the author’s name, but certainly, the title. It’s got to catch the eye of the beholder. Which would you rather read: Eats, Shoots and Leaves by Lynne Truss or When to Use the Oxford Comma? Com’on, unless you’re a total punctuation nerd, you’ll head toward Eats, Shoots and Leaves. It’s a grabber. We don’t know if someone is shooting a … Read More »