Category: How To and Tips
HOW A LUDDITE LEARNED TO LOVE INSTAGRAM
Until last October, I had never texted a photo. I used my Instagram account only to follow family updates. I still can’t access a QR code via my phone to save my life. (Literally: When I went for a Covid test in February, the annoyed clinic staffer finally had to click on the code and […]
The Granny Who Stands on her Head: Reflections on Growing Older
The Granny Who Stands on her Head: Reflections on Growing Older The first sentence of The Granny Who Stands on her Head is “Somewhere in the middle of my seventies, I realised that I liked being old”. That is why I wrote the book – and not surprisingly, what the book is about. Let me […]
Writing Empathy Series Part Three: Empathy for your READER
We’re delighted to share PART THREE of our WRITING EMPATHY SERIES! (Read part One, and Two) Empathy for your READER By Jen Braaksma There’s a girl. She’s 16, and her world has just shattered. Unexpectedly, suddenly, shockingly, her parents announce their divorce. There’d been no fights, no tension, no problems in their house, so why? […]
Liz Flaherty: On Author Friendship
Years and years ago, I wrote a fangirl letter to Harlequin author Muriel Jensen. I sent her a blank stamped envelope in case she cared to respond. If she didn’t have time to answer or if she just didn’t want to, I wanted her to feel free to pay her light bill with the envelope. […]
How Dogs Led to my Emergence As a Novelist
How Dogs Led to my Emergence As a Novelist Unless you are totally outside of the mainstream of popular culture, you know that these days, much is made of being In the Moment. Like many humans, I have found this hard to do. But I started my quest to get better at it long before […]
INHABITING YOUR CHARACTERS
INHABITING YOUR CHARACTERS Many years ago, when I first set out to be a writer, I took a fiction workshop with the late Carol Emshwiller, a writer of short stories. There were about six of us in the class. I had no idea how to write fiction at the time; I only knew I wanted […]
Writing Historical Crime – Bringing your Characters to Life
Writing historical crime – bringing your characters to life One of the joys of writing historical crime is that you have centuries of fascinating characters to bring into your writing, but also the potential for inserting imagined characters who add to your story. In The Conjuror’s Apprentice, I use real people in history – John […]
Five Myths about Story Revision by Lynne Reeves Griffin
Five Myths about Story Revision Lynne Reeves Griffin There’s consensus among writers that while completing a first draft is a monumental accomplishment, it is by way of rigorous revision that the depth and heart of a story is revealed. Every writer struggles with the complexities of the process. It’s daunting to rewrite or add scenes. It […]
In the End, Most Genres Turn to Love
Conventional wisdom dictates that writers should stick to one genre. Agents traditionally advise their clients to stick to a single genre to build a reader base and strengthen their reader brand. When writers want to deviate from their established category, they are either discouraged or told to write under a pseudonym if they want to […]
The Naughtiest Word in Writing…
The Naughtiest Word in Writing… There’s a word commonly uttered in writing circles, a word that often strikes fear even in the most seasoned of novelists. Revision. Yep, revision. I know it’s scary, but I promise, it’s going to be okay. I can say that now, but when I first learned about the art of […]
Recent Comments