Your Book World—Spread It Around!

Your Book World—Spread It Around!

We authors work really hard on creating the perfect setting for our novels. We agonize over every little detail—is the map right? Is the magic/history/whatever believable? Is it a logical world? The same goes for the cast of characters. And I mean not only the...
Editing: The Big Picture

Editing: The Big Picture

I am at That stage of writing my novel: Editing. You either love editing or hate it. It is taking your words and ideas and refining them. It is looking at the forest after you’ve spent months in the weeds. It’s hard. It’s painful. But it can be...
The Conflict Box

The Conflict Box

Continuing on with the theme of conflict (because I’ve been having so much trouble resolving the conflict in the book I’m writing and because the book I’m editing doesn’t have nearly enough), I was recently reminded of the conflict box....
What’s a Plotter to do?

What’s a Plotter to do?

I am a die-hard believer in plotting. For the way my mind works there is no other way to write. But what to do when plotting doesn’t work? I’ve tried writing by the seat of my pants and always end up plotting a few scenes in advance, the major turning points of the...
Backstory Timeline

Backstory Timeline

It was recently brought home to me the importance of creating a timetable for my characters’ and their family’s backstory. The dates when things happened and how they interrelate can be vital to a story’s viability. And especially when writing historical fiction, you...
How long should your novel be?

How long should your novel be?

I struggle with this. I naturally write short. I’m concise, what can I say? I can somehow create well-rounded, in-depth characters in very few words. I can show just enough of a room so that it can be imagined by the reader. It doesn’t take me long at all to show the...