Regency romance, romantic mysteries, & writing tips too.
When you’re writing fiction, starting a new novel and setting up your cast of characters can be challenging. However, if you meet that challenge, not only will your novel be fun to write, it will also (other things being equal) sell. A few months ago, we spent a writers’ group meeting chatting about character creation. … Read more
In a recent writers’ group meeting, we discussed writing fiction, as we often do. A topic came up which intrigued me. I know that I often overlook this simple, but very important element. Writing fiction: is your novel or short story unbalanced? One writer in the group said: “I want to talk about pacing. I’m … Read more
Last year, several of our writers’ group gatherings focused on writing suspenseful fiction. A member triggered this topic when she complained about feeling tired all day: “I stayed up until 2:30 this morning, finishing a novel. I thought why? Then I started wondering how I could write like that.” When we discussed books which hooked … Read more
In our recent writers’ group meeting we discussed writing fiction and the fraught topic of outlining. Those of us who are pantsers wince when we hear the word: “outline”. Pantsers don’t do outlines; we write by the seat of our pants. We feel guilty about that, so we experiment with outlines every few years. It … Read more
Continuing with our yearly review, let’s look at the blog’s most popular posts for plotting fiction. Is plotting a challenge for you? I found plotting horrendous for years: I was convinced that I was a pantser (someone who writes by the seat of his pants)—I was someone who couldn’t plot. Plotting fiction: you can do … Read more
The fiction writing posts on the blog were popular this year. Continuing with our annual review, let’s look at the most popular ones. Fiction writing: emotion, plotting, and suspense Plotting and suspense are challenges for many authors—and how do we create emotions readers can feel? Check out these posts. Entertain your readers: help them to … Read more