Writing Characters Readers Care About
Writing characters that readers care about is a vital skill for any author who wants to write well. The story is king, in that without a great story—a strong plot with dramatic tension to glue the reader to the page—a reader will lose interest, but without characters that readers care about, the novel will fall flat. If a reader doesn’t care about a character, then even if you put the character in life-threatening situations, the dramatic tension doesn’t take hold of the reader, and the story loses its power. I have read books where I’ve said to myself about a character, “Why should I care what happens to you?” I don’t finish such books; why would I? Reading a book is a big time commitment, and readers don’t want to spend a lot of time with characters they don’t care about. The characters we care most easily about are the…
9 Tips on How to Write Descriptions
Words ignite the reader’s imagination. They form concepts and visual pictures in the reader’s mind, and so knowing how to write descriptions is a vital skill for anyone writing a novel. Descriptions give the reader a full experience; they help make the reading an immersive experience. Novels without description are barren, like a desert. They may still have their beauty from other aspects such as riveting action, but they will still lack the depth and fecundity of a landscape lush from rain. Even a little description can add a great deal of flavour to your writing, especially if you write it so that it deepens characterisation and uses aspects of the character’s sensory experience in a symbolic way. The lack of sensory cues means that I’m not pulled as deeply into the story as I am when the words paint a picture or, better still, flow through my mind with…
How do you Find the Good Editors?
Every kitten needs a loving home and every author needs an editor, but how do you find the good editors in a world where plenty exist but not all of them do a good job. A Google search will come up with many options, so how do you find which one will be best for you? The answer is simple: Read the editor’s testimonials and see what their clients say. Ask yourself: do the authors say how it is to work with the person? Are they happy with the result and their overall experience? What kind of work did the editor do on their book? Does this sound like the kind of person you’d like to work with? After reading the testimonials, take a look at the editor’s blog and check out the tone of the writing. Again ask yourself: does this sound like the kind of person I’d like…
The Second Draft: Novel-writing Tips
Here’s some novel-writing tips for the second draft stage of your project. No matter how much of a mess your first draft is – and the first draft of my first book was truly terrible – simply completing it is a big accomplishment – I had a cocktail to celebrate! But the first draft is only the beginning of the journey to publication. It’s what you do in the second draft and later drafts that show your craftspersonship or lack of it. The second draft stage where you revise your work is a very important point in the process of writing a book. Engage your critical thinking When writing your first draft, you use your creative mind to get your ideas down and leave your critical mind out of it. It’s the fun part where you immerse yourself in the world of your story and it doesn’t matter how terrible…
An Editing Success Story
I recently finished editing a most unique book and loved it so much that I offered to publish it with AIA Publishing. It will be available very soon, but I just wanted to share the gorgeous covers with you and whet your appetite for this delicious read. Here’s what the author Ken Decroo said about publishing with AIA Publishing. What a difference a good editor and publisher makes! AIA published the second edition of my novel, Almost Human. They breathed new life into my novel by rebranding it. They kept me in the loop every step of the way with their professional and caring advice and expertise. They met their timelines and were prompt in getting back to me when I emailed them. They were very fair with pricing. My only regret is I did not use them sooner. I love the final product. The book cover is a vast…
Working with Similes, Metaphors and Symbolism in Writing
Similes, metaphors and symbolism in writing are one of the elements that flip writing over the line from ordinary writing to writing worthy of the literary label, meaning that it’s the kind of writing ‘valued for quality of form’ and ‘having a marked style intended to create a particular emotional effect.’ Similes, metaphors and symbolism give depth to the writing by imbuing it with a deeper layer of meaning. These literary conventions ignite the readers’ imagination, making them engage with the writing in an active way which increases their reading pleasure. Writing a novel? Feeling overwhelmed? Get new insight and inspiration with my FREE Novel Revision Checklist. DOWNLOAD IT NOW. You’ll also get weekly articles on writing sent to your inbox. Symbolism in writing Symbolism is the use of symbolic images to represent ideas or qualities. An author who uses symbolism is using the indirect suggestion of symbols to express…
Tips for writing well: use visual, aural and sensual inspiration.
During our first draft, we simply write without any concern for technique or grammar, but we can still use tips for writing well that will draw out our best work. The best single tip I can give for writing well is: as you write delve deep into your imagination and truly experience your story as if you are living it yourself. Craftsmanship can be learned as you refine and rewrite, but if your writing doesn’t emerge from a deep immersion in your story, your writing will be superficial, and superficial writing does not result in engaged readers. A great book is a book that draws the reader right into the scenes, characters and events, a book readers can immerse themselves in, and for that to happen, you as the author must first immerse yourself in your story. Writing a novel? Feeling overwhelmed? Get new insight and inspiration with my FREE…
Novel Writing Step One: Basic Plot Elements
This weeks post on novel writing is about the basic plot elements you need to get started on your novel. I’ve done it as a 3 minute vlog, and below that is an except on the topic from my book The Elements of Active Prose: WritingTips to Make Your Prose Shine It’s amazing how many books I see that don’t have the basics of plot. We can be so familiar with our story that we don’t see the gigantic hole staring us in the face. A novel without a plot is not a novel at all, so we must check that before anything. When you first sit back and look at your story, ask yourself the following: Who is my protagonist (main character)? If there is more than one main character, you still need to have one major one that the reader can follow and really get to…
Writing the First Draft: Who’s Writing This Book?
Writing the first draft of a book can be exciting or frustrating, and often times it’s both. Some authors love writing the first draft, others hate it. Why? Because it’s wonderful to finally get your ideas down, but writing the first draft can tend to take over your life. When I write first drafts, inspiration rules me. I am its slave, and that can be difficult, especially for those who are competing with a book for your attention. But at the same time, immersing yourself totally in the world of your stories and characters is the way to get the best creative writing. Writing a novel? Feeling overwhelmed? Get new insight and inspiration with my FREE Novel Revision Checklist. DOWNLOAD IT NOW. You’ll also get weekly articles on writing sent to your inbox. Forget rules At the first draft stage, no matter whether you are writing to an outline or just…
How to Begin Writing a Novel
You’ve decided to write your novel. The question now is: how to begin writing a novel. Where do you start? Of course, you could just write and see what happens, and that’s always fine, but if you consider a few things first, you can save yourself time and headaches. Point of view: Can your story be told all from the perspective of one person? If so, write in first-person point of view (POV). Use ‘I’ did this, and ‘I’ did that, and so on when referring to the POV character. When you write in first person, you can’t include anything seen from the perspective of another character. The central character can only know what another person might be thinking from observing, and describing for the reader, their facial expressions, tone of voice and gestures. If you need more than one character’s perspective to tell the story, then use third…