Characters and Making Them Real
Photo Source All fiction revolves around characters, such as Mr. Peggotty in Charles Dickens’ David Copperfield. Characters must engage us emotionally, or they become like wallpaper, flattened figures we don’t really care about. Alternately, they can appear cartoonish, as in the illustration above. Have you heard the phrase “well drawn” used about certain characters? That’s […]
The ABCs of Your Novel’s Core Conflict
Photo Source You could plot a novel around this picture. A man, a woman. Love, followed by its opposite. Who will take home the money? How will each on handle the hurt and sense of failure? Before we start thinking about plot, let’s see if we can “sum up” the core conflict of this story. […]
Details, Details, Details!
Details offer readers a chance to live vicariously in a world far different from their own. How much detail do you, the writer, need to provide? A lot. And you must keep on feeding the reader’s “minds eye” as the scene progresses. Why? Because without meaningful details, readers experience a visual “white-out,” like the white-out […]
The Establishing Shot
An Establishing Shot Orients the Reader An establishing shot is a technique used in film, but many novels benefit from having a strong opening scene that gives the reader a quick overview. The camera zooms over the mountains and moves in for a closeup of a solitary woman, walking along a beach. Right away, we […]
Agents and Where to Find Them
Where can you find agents willing to represent your book? And, why should you try to find an agent when, these days, it’s easy to put your book up on Amazon? Photo Source Here are six reasons: The only way to have a major New York publisher “bring out” your book is to have an […]
Independent Publishers: The Good, the Bad, and the Sleazy
An independent publisher could hold the key to you getting your book into print. Let’s face it. No matter how good a book is, writers have a tough time finding an agent. Some agents require you to already have an author platform, even though you’ve barely managed to finish your book. That’s just the reality […]
Should You Write What You Know?
Photo Source Write what you know. That’s the most common piece of advice given to beginning writers. But, should authors stick to the mundane world of their ordinary lives, or is it okay to explore imaginary worlds? I’m not suggesting writers all rush to the side of the ship where fantasy, romance, zombie, thriller, and […]
Irish Writers: Why They’re Worth Reading
When I first read James Joyce, I walked the streets of Dublin. In college I met William Butler Yeats’s “Crazy Jane,” a woman accountable only to herself. I have not yet walked the cliffs of Ireland, except in the pages of books. For many Americans of Irish descent, Ireland is the Ur-land, the epicenter of […]
Giller Prize Shortlist: Canada’s Finest
If you’ve ever gone to Stratford (Ontario) for the Shakespeare Festival, crossed the border to see Niagara Falls from the Canadian side, or taken the ferry to British Columbia, you’ve no doubt visited a Canadian bookstore and noticed prominent displays that feature Canadian authors, not just those writing in English, but the Canadians writing in […]
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