Straight talk from the sisters about blood, sweat and ink
Recently, Robin and I had a conversation about how there seems to be a lot of confusion surrounding the differences between YA novels and MG novels. Most people know the basics, such as MG books are shorter than YA books, and MG protagonists are younger, under 14 as opposed to YA protagonists who are 15-18 …
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Epistolary novels use fictional letters, tweets, emails and other types of communication to create a story with a unique narrative style. This is not a new form, epistolary novels have been around since the 18th century, but after a downturn in popularity they are enjoying a renaissance and the trend shows no sign of slowing. …
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Welcome guest blogger Alex Hurst! As a slush reader for a Science Fiction and Fantasy magazine, Alex has first hand experience getting stories out of the slush pile and into the hands of editors. And today she’s going to share what makes her recommend stories and what makes her pass… I have been a slush reader for a while …
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I began listening to audiobooks a few months ago. Though if I’m honest, it all started with the SERIAL podcast. Unable to resist the hype, I jumped on that bandwagon and was not disappointed – great storytelling! After it was over, I was in the habit of listening to something while I did dishes every …
Continue reading “Audiobook Pitfall: Lack of Dialogue Tags + 1st Person POV”
Multiple POV means writing separate scenes from the viewpoints of different characters, staying in one character’s POV for an entire scene and not switching to another character’s POV until a new scene. Stories with multiple POVs are difficult to write. I’ve read more books that attempted this technique and failed than books where multiple POVs not …
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For writers, words make the Earth spin round. We can battle extraterrestrial invaders or colonize a new galaxy all with the power of our language. We use words every day, and yet we still want to blast them with a death ray when they refuse to obey. Today it’s all about the words and the …
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I love unreliable narrators because they go hand-in-hand with surprise endings. No matter the genre, when a narrator is not telling the truth there is mystery in the story. 3 Tips for Writing Unreliable Narrators Track the truth. Whether the narrator is lying on purpose or not, you the writer need to keep track of …
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Narrative is a story’s fuel, and just like rocket fuel, if you use the right amount you head for the stars in style. Add too little, and you get no lift off. Add too much, and we know what happens, and it’s not good. To make matters more complicated, narrative is a compound – POV, …
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Welcome to day four of the Write On Sisters Blogging from A to Z Challenge. Today we BLASTOFF with D is for Dialogue. This is ground control, come in Space Station! Repeat! Come in Space Station! … Communication link disabled … We don’t think much about how we talk to others until it’s gone. If you’ve …
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In a novel, the main character must go through a life-changing event that transforms them by end of the book. (For more read What Is Character Change and How to Create Character Change.) With that in mind, it should be easy to know who is my protagonist, right? Just build the novel around whoever has …
Continue reading “How To Choose A Main Character”