Designing characters isn’t the most important aspect of writing – first you have to develop a character’s personality, her hobbies and career, her extracurricular activity, the way she talks, her relationships, and so on. That said, appearance is important. Not everyone should have purple hair and yellow eyes, but how Read more…
Last week, I listed nine terms writers should know. In this article, I list six more. After all, one list isn’t enough to include every literary term; writers are too obsessively verbose for that. Whether it be official terms used in the industry, or the lingo your readers use, there Read more…
Writers are a wordy bunch. Therefore, it should come as no surprise that writers have their own vernacular, or collection of vocab which they regularly use. If you are new to the writing community, or the publishing industry generally, you may be unfamiliar with the acronyms or titles used. Most Read more…
When improving their craft, writers are bombarded with advice—with lists of what to do and what not to do, why such mistakes will ruin their book, and why it’s crucial you follow these rules. What they don’t tell you in these self help blogs for authors is that your favourite Read more…
There are countless blogs online describing how to write compelling characters, how to flesh said characters out, and even how to use shortcuts—such as character design—to bring a character to life. What often ends up overlooked by writers and bloggers alike, though, are the methods needed to craft an engaging Read more…
There’s a certain badge of honour attributed to authors who land a traditional deal, while writers who are self published have to work through a stigma. The stigma is understandable. After all, anyone can self publish; this means there is no quality control, which in turn has allowed the proliferation Read more…
There are plenty of book series which had a promising first entry, only to fizzle out as the sequels were published. Characters become dry, places remain unchanged, and, ultimately, the story’s plot lines become contrived, because there’s nothing fresh for the author to work with. Plots stop revolving around the Read more…
Much as we might dream of making a living writing books, the sobering reality is that few of us ever will—even if accepted by a traditional publisher. When you pick up a book at the store, the majority of the authors you come across within are working a day job. Read more…
Writers are expected to do a great deal, and likely for no pay. It’s a fate we’ve accepted, because we’re dedicated to our craft and honestly obsessed with it. However, obsessed or not, it’s not always the easiest job in the world. Half of what makes writing complicated isn’t the Read more…
In my posts, 11 Types of Creative Writing (Part 1 and Part 2) I discussed the various mediums writers of fiction could experiment with. These aren’t to be confused with writing types, such as blogging or copywriting, nor with genres, such as fantasy or romance. Instead, these are categories which Read more…