I love those posts where you have to guess the opening lines of classic novels. I’m usually pretty good at it, despite the fact that I’m actually not a huge classics person.
“There’s an old writing rule that says ‘Don’t have two character names start with the same letter’, but I knew at the beginning that I was going to have more than 26 characters, so I was in trouble there. Ultimately it comes down to what sounds right. And I struggle with that, finding the right […]
As a writer, it’s a mantra you hear over and over: “Show, don’t tell.” There’s a reason it’s repeated endlessly: it’s one of the main things that separates good writing from bad writing.
I get a lot of questions when people find out I wrote a novel. One of the most popular is: how did you start? So if you’re thinking of writing a novel, I thought I’d share some advice on how to get started.
Image found here Do you base your characters on real people? From everything I’ve read, this is somewhat of a no-no. I remember reading somewhere that J.K. Rowling has stated that none of her characters are based directly on real-life people (except for Crookshanks, who’s based on a real-life cat! I love that), but that shades […]
I finished my first novel–I mean edited-down, polished-to-a-gleaming-shine, FINISHED-finished–about 3 months ago now. When I was done, I thought, FINALLY. Now my writing life can finally begin! You know nothing, self of 3 months ago…
The other day I came across this article and found it fascinating. Basically it states that the difference between writers and non-writers (or experienced writers and amateurs) can be measured in the way they brainstorm:
Tana French (whom I LOVE) on accidentally becoming a writer (from this interview):
Seems like every piece of writing advice I stumble upon lately has one thing in common: ditch your prologue. Especially if you’re a first time writer. Especially if you’re querying (this article sums it up pretty nicely). In my massive (to me) cutting down of my novel, I decided maybe I should follow that advice. I chopped out […]
(Image found here) I finished what I thought was the final draft of the novel I’ve been working on for the past five years this past Christmas Eve, at my parents’ house, in the morning over coffee next to the Christmas Tree. I remember sitting back, stunned. Am I done revising? Is this really it? Well, no.
