So, obviously, the first decision you have to make when you’re writing a novel is . . . what to write. Where do your ideas come from? Did your novel come to you in a dream? Strike as you were people watching? Do you have more ideas than you’ll ever have time to write? Notebooks […]
Tag Archives: writing tips
Quick Editing Tip: Confusing Words
Words can be confusing. As writers, we never want that. It’s not a good thing when your readers make this face: Wha? Say whatcha need to say. And DON’T let the spell check be your guide. It’s not keen enough to discern subtle differences like these. into vs. in to onto vs. on to apart […]
Oh the conflict!
Helllloooooo, dear readers! We’re back. Well, I (Erynn) am. Hope you had a lovely Christmas and a happy New Year. Between the two of us, we traveled 1,500 miles, battled morning sickness, laryngitis, and double pneumonia, probably ate two dozen cookies (if by two you realize I mean six), and packed and unpacked an entire […]
Decisions, Decisions Part I
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 […]
Cliché Characters and Plot Devices
’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 […]
See what I’m up to out there…