WRITING TIPS

Somehow, this is already my 50th post, so I wanted to take a slightly different, more fun approach to writing and discuss some writing...

While the beginning of a story sets up the world, people, and themes, the end wraps it all together. It’s either a reward or a punishment...

It’s really easy to put down a book after reading a few pages, but it becomes increasingly more difficult to do so as you go on. Once...

When writing their first draft, some authors keep their future readers in mind at all times and others only write because they need to...

Literary elements are the foundation of all stories. Plot, characters, setting, theme, and style define a novel. They are what readers...

Fillers are curious things. They don’t add anything to the sentence and getting rid of them doesn’t affect anyone. However, we naturally...

At heart, books are defined by the decisions of their characters. That’s why it is essential that characters have a clear moral code....

For most novels, a chapter is to a book like a word is to a sentence. Chapters are the building block of your novel and can be used to...

Trying to understand the writing community can be challenging at first. There are so many abbreviations and terms that writers just throw...

No writer likes to think about word count. It can destroy the creativity process, force you to cut out your favorite parts of your story,...

Dialogue, description, action, and narrative—all fiction novels will have some of each, but most writers will use some more than others....

If you have finished the first draft of your novel, congratulations! Take a break. You deserve it. One week later, you come back and read...

Dialogue is a wonderful tool: it can be used for characterization, worldbuilding, advancing the plot, and so much more. Here are some...

Unfortunately, writing isn’t all about plotlines and characters. Yes, these are the things you want your reader to be engrossed in, but...

Relationship arcs make amazing subplots (or main plots, depending on your genre), especially when done well. First, be sure to take a...

Writer’s block: the archnemesis of all writers. It comes at you out of nowhere, making you wonder why you even began writing in the first...

Who is telling your story? You, of course! Well, not really. Unless you’re writing nonfiction, your novel probably has a narrator other...

Many young adult books would have you believing romance is the most important relationship your character will encounter. It is not. Your...

Characters are quite literally the life and blood of your story. Your character’s personality and development can make or break your...

Outlining—you love it, hate it, or respect it against your will. The things you should outline before starting your novel really depend...