Writing and storytelling are two sides of the same coin, and one usually needs to be skilled in both to create a great story. If your prose is not engaging, your story may not be enough to maintain your reader’s […]
Women have not always been portrayed well in fiction, with female characters often being relegated to little more than objects or plot devices. Real-life women grew tired of their fictional counterparts always being in in need of rescue or stuffed into […]
Every story has different requirements. Some don’t need much character development. Others don’t need tight plots. But for your story to be the most engaging and compelling it can be, it should comprise these basic narrative elements. 1. Character Reader-Character […]
If you’re subscribed to my newsletter, you’re probably aware of how I can’t stand the question “How do I find the time to write?”. As part of the online writing community, I see this question asked at least once a week […]
(Video transcript) Not a fortnight goes by that I don’t read the comments section of an article about writing and find a comment spurning writing rules and advice of any kind and it grinds my gears. “Rules stifle creativity!” they proclaim. […]
Ah the sidekick. Dimwitted menace or valuable tool? Many sidekicks are written poorly and with the primary role of providing comic relief or making the protagonist look good. This sort of sidekick can work in some forms of fiction, but […]
If you’re on a book editor’s website reading blog posts about writing then you’ve been in the writersphere long enough to have heard that editors and agents hate dreams in novels. Many people in the writing community tend to just […]
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Finding the right title for your novel can be difficult. Many writers miss the mark, naming their book something obscure for the sake of creating interest even if that obscure something has nothing to do with the story, e.g. Twilight. […]
When writing a novel, you’re making promises to your readers. A promise is when a writer indicates to his or her readers that something will happen or be explored. Writers make dozens of promises as they write, probably without realising […]