Archive For The “Writing Hijinks” Category

Foreshadowing is a powerful tool but one a lot of people struggle with. Foreshadowing is a warning or indication of a future event. It gets the reader ready for the big events that occur later in your story. This doesn???t mean we come right out and tell our readers what???s coming next, just that we…

What’s a story without a good villain? Or a snappy side kick? While the MC may be the heart and soul of your story, other characters play important roles, too. Do you know what roles are typically needed? Let’s explore some of the more active ones today. Primary Character: These are your main characters, meaning…

Setting is crucial to our stories. We don???t want our action happening on the blank white page, it needs to be grounded in your story world. Yet setting is often overlooked. So what can we do to make sure we???re incorporating our setting enough? Let???s take a look. Use the 5 senses. Access the senses,…

I???m sure you???ve all heard of scene lists. Famous authors such as J.K. Rowling have shared their scene lists with the world. And scene lists are a game changer in your writing, helping you craft a strong story. Even if you are a die-hard pantser, you can still gain a lot from making a scene…

The first three chapters of your book are crucial. They decide whether an agent wants your full manuscript or not and whether the reader will buy and continue reading your book. So you have to make them strong and powerful to hook the reader. So how do we do this? Here???s some dos and don???ts…

Last week we discussed dialogue and this week???s topic is closely related. It???s body language. There are many different types of body language, but this week we???ll focus on three aspects that allow us to show, not tell your characters??? personalities and emotional states. Let???s get started. Addressing first impressions and posture are one way…

Dialogue is the backbone of our scenes and develops our characters, but can be tricky to get right. Let???s look at some dos and don???ts and general tips for writing strong dialogue. Dos Write dialogue with purpose. Your dialogue should go towards building characterization, furthering the plot, building suspense and tension, etc. If your dialogue…

Last week we talked about POVs, but this week I thought we???d focus more on third person POVs and the differences between third person limited and third person omniscient. Third person is a very common POV to write in so readers are very comfortable with it. Nowadays it is more common to use third person…

Which point of view (POV) you use affects every sentence in your story and how readers will interact with your story. So it???s important to give it some thought before you begin. First thing to figure out is who can best tell your main character???s story? It isn???t necessarily your main character (think Great Gatsby)….

If you???ve been toying around with the idea of starting a new blog, but was daunted by just the thought, then this post is for you. Starting a new blog can seem scary but with a few tips, some general advice, and a walk through of your first post, you???ll be ready to start. So…