Writing Fiction: Pitfalls And Tips For Naming Your Characters

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Do you enjoy finding names for your characters when you’re writing fiction? Many authors don’t. Moreover, naming your characters has pitfalls. In one writers’ group meeting, an author told us about her cousin, who also writes fiction. They were chatting about character names. The cousin admitted that she’d never bothered checking her names with Google … Read more

Want To Write A Novel? These Tips May Help If You’re Stressed

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With NaNoWriMo on the horizon, and coming up fast, you’re remembering your dream: to write a novel. Last month our group discussed NaNoWriMo and stress. Our writers’ group includes authors who’ve been traditionally published, as well as self-publishing authors. It also includes aspiring authors who want to write, and would, if the whole idea of … Read more

Editing Fiction: 3 Tips To Help Your Story To Flow

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Worried about editing fiction? In one recent meeting of our writers’ group, several members were struggling with editing their novels. A big challenge when editing is story flow. That is, avoiding lumps and bumps which stop the reader. It’s vital to avoid bumps on a micro level, when the reader has a “huh?” moment because … Read more

Writing Apps: 4 Apps To Get Organized And Improve Your Writing

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Can writing apps improve your writing? Although they can’t write for you, they can get you organized and smooth the writing process. A big benefit: the best apps can increase your motivation, while cutting down on procrastination. A few months ago, our writers’ group chatted about writing apps. We all had our favorites. However, some … Read more

Goal Setting Trap: Avoid The Trap And Achieve Your Goals

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In a recent writers’ group meeting, we discussed goal setting. One writer said: “Goal setting isn’t for me. Life’s too stressful now. What’s the point of goals when so much is changing?” Many agreed. I agreed too. It’s easy to feel burned out by goals; you can set a goal, then your life derails. Within … Read more