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Tahlia Newland

Editor, Author & Artist

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How Much Description is Too Much in a Novel or Memoir?

November 3, 2020 by Tahlia Newland

How Much Description is Too Much in a Novel or Memoir?

In terms of personal preference, for both authors and readers, there is a fair bit of leeway in the answer to the question of how much description is too much in a novel or memoir. However, in terms of craftsmanship the answer to this question is clear. What’s not so clear is how you, as an author, determine whether or not your work meets the criteria for the right amount of description. Image by Pexels from Pixabay Too little Whether you’re writing a novel or a memoir, some description of scenes and people is required to set the scene. Without some indication of how people and their environment look, the reader has nothing with which to stimulate their imagination, and reading is essentially an imaginative endeavour. We want a book to carry us off into other people’s stories and into the cities, towns, countries, times and even planets, universes and realms in which the story takes place. Description provides a rich texture that stimulates the readers’ imaginations, helping … [Read more...]

Filed Under: The writing, editing & publishing process, Writing tips Tagged With: writing descriptions

The Wisdom of Giving Up

September 29, 2020 by Tahlia Newland

The Wisdom of Giving Up

What do you do when feedback on your creative work indicates that you haven’t managed what you were trying to achieve and a total re-think is required, a rethink that will require new enthusiasm and an incredible amount of work? I give up. 'Ahh!' you might exclaim, horrified by the thought. 'Doesn't that mean you've failed?' No. Giving up isn't failing; it's part of the creative process. Giving up isn't the same as failing Even if you discard a project completely and never return to it, you will have learned from your writing and struggling with it, and the best ideas from that story will emerge in a new story, a better story. Perhaps you did fail to bring a book to publication, but that doesn't make you a failure; it makes you a writer, and a sensible one. Some stories are really not worth the work to fix them up because they'll never be that great a book, and if you can admit that, then you're freeing yourself up to write something else, something that could be a … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Editing, Writing & publishing, The writing, editing & publishing process

How do You Know if Your Story is Worth Investing in?

August 30, 2020 by Tahlia Newland

How do You Know if Your Story is Worth Investing in?

An editing quote can sometimes be a shock, but a high editing cost just means that there's a lot of work that needs to be done on your book. The cost of the edit might make you wince, but what's the cost of not doing it? Is that story you've slaved over worth taking the next step? It's a question I've asked myself with every one of my books, and three times, I decided the story wasn't worth continuing with. Those unedited and unpublished books still remain in the archive folder on my computer, there to languish forever. Sometimes you just have to walk away. Other times, you need to take the plunge and put your money into your dream to make it a reality. And a full edit will not just make it a real book, it will make it a REALly good book! So how do you decide which category your book falls into? The one you should walk away from or the one you should invest in? That's what I look at in this video. https://youtu.be/gHAy1veZUI8 … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Editing, Writing & publishing, The writing, editing & publishing process Tagged With: editing

Good Writing: Why the Word ‘Immediately’ Doesn’t Make Your Writing More Immediate.

July 9, 2020 by Tahlia Newland

Good Writing: Why the Word ‘Immediately’ Doesn’t Make Your Writing More Immediate.

Misunderstandings about what makes good writing abound. What you were taught at school may not be the best practice at all. Image by StockSnap from Pixabay Said usage is not a sin In primary school, my teachers asked us to avoid using the word said, as if that would make our writing better. It doesn’t. Fancy dialogue tags (words other than said, replied and perhaps the occasional exclaimed to indicate who is speaking) are obvious—they jump out at the reader—and so interrupt the reading experience and remind readers they’re reading. But we want our readers so totally immersed in our story that they forget they are reading. We want them to feel as if they are in the action, right there with the characters, and fancy dialogue tags do the opposite of that. Said is so ordinary that we skim over it. And this is only one of the misunderstandings I see often in beginner writers. There are far more skilful and interesting ways to avoid countless ‘saids’ than replacing them with … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Writing tips

5 Tips for Marketing Your Book on a Budget

June 20, 2020 by Tahlia Newland

5 Tips for Marketing Your Book on a Budget

Today I have a guest post from Desiree Villena If there’s one thing most writers have in common, it’s this: we’re all working on a budget these days. Sure, there’s a lucky few among us whose books take off without much effort, or who have deep enough pockets to invest in heavy advertising and surveying. But that’s just not an option for most of us. Fortunately, there are a number of things you can do to boost your book without breaking the bank — that is, if you’re willing to be a little creative with your marketing and put in the work. Image by StockSnap from Pixabay 1) Organize a newsletter swap Let’s start with something pretty simple — reaching out to your friends. As an author, it’s important to form relationships with people in your corner of the book community, and a big part of that will be authors who write in the same genre as you. Far from being competition, these people can often become your most steadfast allies. Now, no one wants to have false friends, … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Book talk

When reality looks like fiction: Covid-19 and apocalyptic, post-apocalyptic and dystopian fiction

May 9, 2020 by Tahlia Newland

When reality looks like fiction: Covid-19 and apocalyptic, post-apocalyptic and dystopian fiction

With the world in the grip of Covid-19, life is looking like something out of a novel from the apocalyptic, post-apocalyptic and dystopian fiction genres. This is not particularly surprising considering that reality informs fiction and fiction reflects reality. The first time I felt I were living in an apocalyptic fiction novel was when out of control bushfires threatened my property in January of this year, but the threat receded and left me and my property unharmed. And even during the event, the world and the rest of Australia continued as normal, so – even though it felt like it to those who lived through it – the fires weren’t truly an apocalyptic event. The Australian fires were catastrophic, but they were restricted to one area of the world, whereas a truly apocalyptic event effects the whole world or large portions of it. Image by GravityGeorge from Pixabay The word apocalypse, according to the Oxford Dictionary refers to ‘the complete final destruction of the world, … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Editing, Writing & publishing Tagged With: corona virus, covid-19, pandemic in literature

4 Crucial Mistakes Authors Make When Launching a Self-Published Book

February 3, 2020 by Tahlia Newland

4 Crucial Mistakes Authors Make When Launching a Self-Published Book

Welcome to the first post for 2020.As some of you know, I had a summer break, but rather than the holiday I expected, I had an anxious time as bushfires sped up the NSW coast towards my rainforest property. We did evacuate, but luckily, the fire didn't reach us on that hot windy day, so the house was still here when we returned, and the forest is still green. Phew. That fire is still burning, but the Rural Fire Service people have got it contained, so it's not a threat to us at present.My life has been ever changed by the weather and the bushfires this summer. We have never been so dry here, or the weather so hot with many days over 40 degrees Celcius when previously that was unheard of here. That and the prospect that we would not have a house to return to when we evacuated, made us realise that climate change is not some future thing. It is here, now and Australia is one of the first countries to feel its effects. Click here to read what my research into climate change revealed to … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Editing, Writing & publishing

What is a Narrative Memoir?

December 22, 2019 by Tahlia Newland

What is a Narrative Memoir?

Are you writing a memoir? If so, it’s a good idea to think about what kind of approach you’re taking. Are you reporting on events in your life or are you writing a narrative memoir? The easiest way to write the story of your life, or part of your life, is to write a report, but the difference for your reader is (subject matter aside) like the difference between reading a book-length newspaper report and a novel. What is a report A report is non-emotive writing. Its aim is to share facts about events rather than judgements. Though it uses expositional language (telling rather than showing) turning a report into showing events rather than telling about them doesn’t by itself change it from a report to a narrative. The definition of report writing is creating an account or statement that describes in detail an event, situation or occurrence, usually as the result of observation or inquiry. The two most common forms of report writing are news report writing and academic … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Editing, Writing & publishing, The writing, editing & publishing process Tagged With: memoir writing

What’s the difference between telling and showing?

November 26, 2019 by Tahlia Newland

What’s the difference between telling and showing?

Telling and showing in writing is a tricky area and one that authors need to understand in order to fully engage their readers. They need to know how to recognise telling and how to change it into showing, A lot of the writing in  my first drafts are more telling than showing the story, at least in the linking scenes. I don't know if it's the same for other writers, but I figure it's natural to write it that way because you're basically trying to get the story down. The task for future drafts is to change the telling into showing. What's the difference and why not tell? Telling Telling has a narrator between the reader and the action, so the reader stands outside the action and somewhat remote from the character. Readers are constantly reminded that they are reading, because the narrator tells us that the character did, saw, heard or felt something.  Telling also talks about something that happened in the past so the scene has little immediacy. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: The writing, editing & publishing process, Writing tips

5 Essentials for Your Successful Book Launch

November 8, 2019 by Tahlia Newland

5 Essentials for Your Successful Book Launch

Guest post by Daniela McVicker Orchestrating a book launch is not something that comes easy for any author. Even though you now have technology on your side that helps you get in touch with your readers, nothing compares with an event where you can have them in front of you. But, when you think of organizing such events and all the details which you should take into consideration, then things don’t seem so easy. A successful book launch creates urgency and excitement among your readers. Moreover, it will bring more followers and increase your email subscribing list. So you have no reason to be against a book launch apart from the emotions which are going to overwhelm you. If you don’t know where to start, then you should keep reading this article and find more about it. 1. Define your launch budget The launch of your book is a celebration. But, in order to be able to organize everything as you wish, you should define a budget to pay for things and do your best to stick … [Read more...]

Filed Under: Editing, Writing & publishing

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Hi I’m Tahlia Newland

I can help you express yourself and share your story with the world.

 

Do you want to write a really good story and have it professionally polished and published?

As an editor, I help you be the best writer you can possibly be. I strengthen your voice, support your vision and can assist you all the way to publication.

On my blog you’ll find book reviews, writer’s tips, contemplative articles on meditation and working with your mind, and occaisonally pictures of my Burmese cats.

If you’re interested mostly in my contemplative articles then  Sign up to the Living in Peace & Clarity Newsletter to get those articles delivered by email. And check out the resources on my Living in Peace and Clarity Page.

I do a lot of community work involving blogging and general support for Buddhist students processing revelations of abuse in their spiritual communities.  Please consider supporting me to continue this work.

Occiasonally, when inspired and not too busy with community work, I make masks.

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Book reviews – sci fi, fantasy, literary fiction, Buddhist fiction and related non-fiction

Fantasy Book Review: The High Priestess by Val Tobin

Fantasy Book Review: The High Priestess by Val Tobin

The High Priestess: Persephone’s Return is the third book in Val Tobin’s Tales from the Unmasqued World Series, and in it she deepens and expands the stories from the previous two book. The book has two central story arcs based around characters we’ve met before. One arc follows Kelsey (a human) who is with Josh […]

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Renovated Website & Cute Cat Series

Renovated Website & Cute Cat Series

Yesterday I did a photoshoot for my renovated website. Take a look around, particulary at the home page (Click on my name at the top to go there). It’s designed for editing clients with my books secondary because I need to focus on the part of this publishing business that actually earns me more than […]

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