Category: writing process

• January 8, 2024

  Different ways a scene or conversation can advance the plot

  There are various way a scene or conversation in your novel can advance the plot–because every scene should advance the plot in some way (prologues maybe excepted, as they take place before the plot begins and set it up). No scene is going to, or needs to, do all of the things I’m going to…
• January 5, 2024

  Let your characters face the consequences of their actions (also, my book is on sale!)

  I posed a question to my beta reader for the second edition of book two last year, before I sent the manuscript off to my editor. I asked her if I should soften a particular bad decision one of my younger characters makes in the story. Her response was really gratifying to me. “She’s what,…
• January 3, 2024

  What is most important to you? Character, plot, style, theme?

  Every writer and every story is different. Honestly, I think every writer will hold the basic building blocks of written fiction in a different tension. A unique tension. These building blocks are character, plot, style, and theme. Personally, I think the best stories put character, and character development, first. We see the characters grow. We see…
• January 1, 2024

  The question to ask before you cut a scene or paragraph

  There are LOTS of times as a writer when you need to cut a paragraph or scene from your WIP. Before you do, there’s a question to ask yourself: DOES THIS PIECE OF WRITING CONTRIBUTE SOMETHING SPECIFIC THAT I NEED TO INCORPORATE ELSEWHERE? My editor recently suggested I cut a paragraph from book two of…
• December 22, 2023

  What makes a good subplot?

  Today I thought I’d break down some of the things that a good subplot will contribute to your plot. Every subplot does NOT need to do every one of these. But it should do some of them. What do you think? What are some of your favorite subplots in famous books or movies?
• December 12, 2023

  As a writer, you’ve got to take constructive criticism

  Real criticism–not vitriol, not an attack, but an honest assessment of good will from reviewers and readers–is golden to a writer, or it should be. It helps us grow, and it’s important to approach it from that angle. It’s also important to remember: Every one is entitled to their opinion of a work of art.…
• December 9, 2023

  It’s good that it’s painful to read what you wrote years ago

  I hear a lot of writers talking on social media about how much they cringe to read their older pieces–whether, poems, short stories, novellas, or even novels. It’s definitely hard to go back and look at your older work. If that’s you, and you’re feeling a bit embarrassed about stuff you put out in the…
• December 2, 2023

  Beta reading for a friend! A great thought on how to beta read . . .

  It has been SO long since I’ve been a beta reader. But a good friend asked me to beta read something she wrote, and I’m so excited to do it. It’s historical fiction set in Regency/Victorian England, sometime around there. I only just started it and am having fun. It’s a struggle trying to balance…
• November 25, 2023

  Write every day?

  My thoughts on whether a writer really needs to write EVERY single day have evolved over the years. I think on one level that writing daily is a nice goal, but it’s not absolutely necessary. First, I think we have to recognize in a healthy manner that life is going to intervene sometimes, and that’s…
• November 24, 2023

  Sending my manuscript to the editor this weekend!

  My editor isn’t scheduled to start working on “The Magic Council: The Fight for Home” until December 1, but I’m so happy to announced that I’m going to be sending the manuscript to her this weekend. It’s as good as I’m going to get it, and I need to get it out of my hands…