by Sarah Sundin (@sarahsundin) I’m a California girl. I’m ashamed to admit I use the word like as filler on a regular basis. My young-adult children use vocabulary not even known in the rest of the country. If I were to write all my novels in my natural voice, I’d be very limited in geography and era. When we speak …
Writing Christmas Fiction
by Susan A.J. Lyttek It’s one thing to reminisce about Christmases gone by and to tell our own tales. But how do we go about creating traditions for a fictional character and make it seem both compelling and realistic? First of all, we can and should incorporate some of our own traditions. Maybe these go in with a minor character, …
Writing Christmas Fiction
by Susan A.J. Lyttek It’s one thing to reminisce about Christmases gone by and to tell our own tales. But how do we go about creating traditions for a fictional character and make it seem both compelling and realistic? First of all, we can and should incorporate some of our own traditions. Maybe these go in with a minor character, …
What Is Your Hero Pursuing?
By Henry McLaughlin We’ve all heard story is about conflict and tension. And that is definitely true. Stories about happy people living in Happy Valley don’t excite readers. Frankly, they can be boring. The story becomes a story when something disrupts the status quo. As John LeCarré once said, “The cat sat on the mat is not a story. The …
Write Like a Pirate
By Kariss Lynch Remember that scene in Pirates of the Caribbean, the one where the not-so-refined Miss Elizabeth requests parley with the pirate captain? She thinks parley is a Pirate Code granting her protection. Sadly, she didn’t quite know her audience. She is quickly informed that the Pirate Code is more like guidelines than actual rules. Writing is a lot …
Five Lies Every Character/Writer Believes
by Angela Arndt Every good character has obstacles to keep him from reaching his goals. Whether your heroine is a nuclear scientist creating a secret device to save the world or a receptionist who’s secretly in love with the town doctor, any lie she believes that keeps her from reaching that goal must be exposed. It’s part of the plotting …
Tips for Using the 5 Senses
by Ane Mulligan Sight, sound, smell, touch, and taste create experiential fiction, a story so in-the-moment, the reader hears, smells, and tastes what the characters do. To do that, we want to show the action. Here are some tips for you. Remember to make the descriptions organic to your character. If you protagonist is a musician, her similes will be musical. …
Even the “Big Dogs” Struggle
By C. Kevin Thompson I picked up a copy of Lee Child’s debut novel, The Killing Floor. It was his first Jack Reacher novel. Originally published in 1997, this edition (the fifth edition in 2012) is a mass paperback and contains “a new introduction by the author.” It was this intro that inspired me to keep on keeping on. Child …
Three Tips for Making Up with Your Characters
By Melissa Tagg Several weeks ago during an author Q&A, I was asked to name a sport to which I’d compare my writing journey. I didn’t even have to think about it: hockey. It’s possible I gave this answer solely because only days earlier I’d been part of an extended—and hilarious!—conversation about The Mighty Ducks movies. Nineties kids say “hey!” …
When Characters Start Talking
by Ann H. Gabhart Several years ago I had a part time job that allowed me to work from home, one I hoped would give me more time to write. It was a bear of a job. As the substitute coordinator for my county’s school system, I spent hours on the phone scheduling replacements for absent teachers. Okay, so you’re …