First, I am not advocating a move back toward feudalism. That would be daft. (Although there are days it sounds strangely appealing.) But I do think we need a brief refresher course on nouns–especially common and proper nouns. Bear with me for the briefest overview imaginable. Noun: a person (Ringo Starr), place (dime store), thing […]
When you first sit down to write your novel, and that blank page is staring you in the face, you have several decisions to make before you ever start writing. Over the next couple of weeks, we’ll walk you through these choices. This week we’ll start with tense and POV. First, tense. Should you write […]
’Ello, loves! We’re back for the final Stay-Away-from-Cliché-Installment. We’ve covered phrases and idioms, overused gestures and descriptions. Today we bring you… Story and character clichés. You can’t come up with a truly unique plot, because only ten exist (depending on whose list of tropes you use). But you can put a unique spin on the […]
Crystal Collier’s debut novel Moonless was one of the most fun reads of my year, and if historical paranormal romance is your thing, you won’t want to miss this one. I’m always on the lookout for gripping reads to recommend to the crowd of YAs who hound me for book recs. They’ve got diverse tastes, […]
Last week we talked to you about avoiding cliché phrases and common idioms in your writing. Today, I want to talk about cliché gestures and descriptions. These are the mannerisms that every character has, the physical actions that crop up in every chapter. Another plug for The Emotion Thesaurus. Each emotion entry will give you fresh […]
See what I’m up to out there…