Writing Characters From the Opposite Gender’s Point of View
Richard Alther wrote his latest novel from the perspective of a woman. Here, he shares his observations on writing from the opposite gender's point of view.
5 Things Being a Journalist Taught Me About Writing Fiction
Former journalist and current thriller writer Michael Martinez shares five things that journalism taught him about writing fiction—including paying attention to details, researching, and economy of words.
Turning Truth Into Fiction: 8 Tips
Add authenticity to your writing by exploiting your experiences.
7 Things That Will Doom Your Novel (& How to Avoid Them)
You can doom your debut from the start with these 7 (tongue-in-cheek) strategies for flailing, and failing—or, you can do just the opposite.
11 Secrets to Writing an Effective Character Description
The following is an excerpt from Word Painting Revised Edition by Rebecca McClanahan, available now! The characters in our stories, songs, poems, and essays embody our writing. They are our words made flesh. Sometimes they even speak for us, carrying much of the burden of plot, theme, mood, idea, and emotion....
10 Writing Techniques from Bram Stoker’s Dracula
October conjures up images of crackling fires, shivering leaves, the grinning teeth of a jack-o-lantern … and, if you’re a fan of classic horror, that iconic, fanged master of the night, Count Dracula. We feel there’s no better time than October—National Dracula Month—to share some writing tips and techniques that authors can...
10 Tips for Fiction Writers from the 2015 Novel & Short Story Writer’s Market
The 2015 Novel & Short Story Writer's Market, now in its 34th year, is hot off the presses, and today I'm sharing ten pieces of advice from the contributors to this year's edition. NSSWM features articles on fiction craft, getting published, and marketing and promotion, as well as more than 400...
Writing New Adult Fiction Blog Tour
From Sylvia Day’s Bared to You to Jamie McGuire’s Beautiful Disaster, new adult fiction has arrived—and it’s hotter than ever. But there’s more to this category than its 18- to 26-year-old characters: The success of your story depends on authentically depicting the transition of your young protagonists from teenhood into adulthood....
Writing Gender-Specific Dialogue
Writing dialogue to suit the gender of your characters is important in any genre, but it becomes even more essential in romance writing. In a romance novel, characters of opposite sexes are often paired up or pitted against each other in relationships with varying degrees of complication. Achieving differentiation in the...
Research vs. Observation: What’s Your Preference?
This excerpt comes from Writing 21st Century Fiction by Donald Maass. Do you research your novels to the point of obsession, or do you not research at all? Historical novelists are research junkies. Coming-of-age novelists mostly rely on memory. The majority of fiction writers fall somewhere in between: They study just...
Write Like a Pro! Master The Rules of Dialogue in Writing
Some of this is Grammar 101, but you’ve got to master the rules in this section for an editor to take you seriously. If these rules are elementary to you, skip them. For everyone else, type them up, print them out, and nail them to your computer monitor. Rule #1: When...
Writing Fiction: The Three Types of Lead Characters
Today’s writing tip comes from Write Great Fiction: Revision & Self-Editing by James Scott Bell. If you are writing a fiction book, you’ll need to create a strong lead character for your story and one readers can relate to. Writing Lead Characters There are three types of Lead characters: The Positive...
Six Reasons For Using An Epilogue
You need a clear reason for writing an epilogue, and it cannot be used to simply tie up loose ends, which you should do during your falling action. Without a proper purpose for including one, an epilogue might come across as anti-climatic deadweight, inadvertently signaling to your reader that you’re afraid...
The 21 Key Traits of Best-Selling Fiction
Do you wonder want readers want? In today’s writing tip, you’ll discover the 21 key traits of best-selling fiction excerpted from The Writer’s Little Helper by James V. Smith, Jr. The 21 Key Traits of Best-Selling Fiction Utility (writing about things that people will use in their lives) Information (facts people...
Create Powerful Imagery in Your Writing
We’ve heard the old montage “Show, don’t tell” so many times that it’s become stale–and what does it mean, anyway? It’s an easy phrase to utter, but how do you achieve resonant, meaningful description that will make your words come alive? This simple checklist, from The Writer’s Little Helper by James...
The Rules of Storytelling, Pixar Style
Anyone whose ever seen a screening of a Pixar movie (Finding Nemo, Up, and the Toy Story trio come to mind for me) knows that the writers of these charming, funny and often heartbreaking movies know a thing or two about the art of storytelling. Recently, Pixar storyboard artist Emma Coats...
5 Story Mistakes Even Good Writers Make
Sometimes it’s too easy to get caught up in the so-called rules of writing and forget what’s really important. Here’s how to avoid the traps that can steer your story off-course.