Writing to Trope

Writing to Trope

We all like to think that we write original stories that no one has ever written before. In a sense that’s true. On the other hand, it’s also highly likely that your story falls into a trope. According to Wikipedia, a trop is “a writer’s usage of commonly...
Do you really need to show that?

Do you really need to show that?

Is it possible to have too much “show” and not enough “tell” in your novel? First, a quick reminder of the terms: Showing is when you have an entire scene, complete with action, outer dialogue, and, most of the time, inner dialogue. We see what is happening in real...
How to plot a romance novel

How to plot a romance novel

I was recently asked for references on how to plot a romance. As someone who’s been writing in the genre for years and reading as many books on the craft of writing as I can, I had very few recommendations for romance-specific craft books. It’s not that...

World Conflict (in fiction)

How interesting is your world? Is it interesting enough that you would want to live there? Too interesting that it would terrify you to do so? I recently heard about someone who created a world so dull that she didn’t even want to create her story anymore (it was a...
Intuitive Editing: A Review

Intuitive Editing: A Review

One in an occasional series of writing book reviews. Today, I’ll talk about Intuitive Editing by Tiffany Martin. I came across this book when I went to the home of a fellow author who was hosting a write-in. She had very cleverly put out all of her craft books...