One of the difficult aspects of finishing a novel is that the project can seem so overwhelming you may not know where to begin. However, using the tips below, you can break your novel down into tasks that are manageable.
Category: Writing advice
Though written as a YA novel, The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins was a big hit with readers of all ages. One key to its success was its use of suspense, and we can examine it to learn how to write suspense ourselves.
Mood has a great deal to do with the success of a piece of fiction because it is related to how the story makes the reader feel. A writer aiming for a melancholy or surreal mood in fiction could study the novels of Japanese writer Haruki Murakami for tips on how to achieve those moods.
There are nearly as many ways to approach writing a novel as there are writers, but many swear by an approach known as the snowflake method. Developed by writer Randy Ingermanson, the snowflake method can be particularly helpful to writers who prefer to plan extensively before setting out to write a novel.
‘Chekhov’s Gun’ is a concept that describes how every element of a story should contribute to the whole. It comes from Anton Chekhov’s famous book writing advice: ‘If you say in the first chapter that there is a rifle hanging on the wall, in the second or third chapter it absolutely must go off. If it’s not going to be fired, it shouldn’t be hanging there.’
It’s an often given writer’s tip, but few tips for writers cause as much confusion as the caution to avoid passive voice. Understanding what passive voice is and why it should be avoided can clear up this confusion.
It’s a mystery why we so often resist doing the very things that we most want to be doing. Once we get started, we usually are glad we did and have little trouble continuing, but how can we make sure we write consistently in the first place? Here are some ways to make sure you keep your promise to write:
The breakdown of the traditional publishing model and increasing popularity of e-readers has opened up enormous opportunity for self published authors.
When we think about describing a character, we often think of listing items like hair colour, eye colour and body type. Character posture is important too. Here are tips on using posture to bring out what makes each of your fictional characters uniquely interesting: