Acing Character Voice – Writing Advice

Character voice is extremely important, no matter the story. Character voice, particularly in POV characters, is how a character sounds to the reader. The narration is distinctly theirs, recognizable through patterns of thoughts and use of language as well as tone. Every character has a different way of thinking, a different perspective on the world,...

Clear Character Design

Clear character design can be a challenge, but it's important to start with the basics and build up from there. There are two parts to character design, internal and external, or personality and aesthetic. Starting with internal design, you want to start with one or two key, defining traits. These are the character's most prominent...

Character Introductions

Don't be tempted to take the introduction of your characters lightly, because their first moments in the story are incredibly important. Those first moments with a character can and should be used to 'set the tone' for that character. Their first scene should be an introduction of their personality, a short peak at who they...

Story Basics: Plot

I think it's important for everyone to at least know a few basics about their plot before they start writing. It greatly helps the writing process and how your writing flows, particularly in drafting but also in editing. One very important thing to know from the start is your genre! Each genre has its own...

Editing – Where To Start

Something I'll be doing a lot this year is editing, and I'm guessing a lot of you will be editing as well. But it's such a big task, it's hard to know where to start, whether it's your first book or your fifth. For me, learning how to edit came through much trial and error,...

Spin-offs And Side Stories

I'm one of those authors who will have a billion stories based in the same universe. I'll have a series, and that series will have three spin-offs, two prequels, a sequel, and a collection of short stories to go along with it. I love spin-offs and side stories, I believe they deepen the world and...

Themes In Fiction

Themes are at the very core of your novel. Themes are the reason stories are written, the reason we read. Themes are the reason stories exist. Every story has a theme, no matter how small. Some stories are all about their theme, the theme is huge and forefront. Some stories keep the theme in the...

NaNo Help: Characters

Characters are the most important element of story telling, at least in my opinion. Without them, nothing would be worth reading. To write a good novel, you have to have great characters, and you have to know them well. And with NaNoWriMo, when you're trying to write an entire novel in a month, its extremely...

Burnout VS. Writer’s Block

Writers block and creative burnout are two entirely different things, although they often both have the same effect on you, or so you think. They keep you from writing. And you want to be writing. But because they are two different things, they require different solutions. Writer's Block Writer's block is generally defined as being...

My Drafting Process: How I Write

I've been writing for over three years now, novel writing that is, and I've learned a thing or two about what works for me, and what I really shouldn't try to do. So today, I'll be going over my drafting process! How I go from inkling to full blown, publishing quality work.Related: Six Mistakes I...