Regency romance, romantic mysteries, & writing tips too.
At a recent writers’ group meeting, we discussed how to write fiction that readers love and remember. The discussion started when one author said: “Last week I caught up on my reading. I read four (genre) novels. After I finished them, I struggled to remember the characters. And the plots.” (I won’t mention which genre … Read more
In our latest writers’ group meeting, we talked about writing fiction and character creation and development. We’re back to our regular meetings, thank heavens. Sadly, our group’s been decimated, but we’ll build it up again. Start with plot or characters? That’s a topic which never gets old because of the two groups of fiction authors. … Read more
Interested in self-publishing? It’s a popular topic in our online writers’ group. We’re online-only for now, until things get back to normal. One of the benefits of being online is that we can support each other through this global madness. Self-publishing—the big question: is it “real” publishing? An aspiring author in the group asked: “Self-publishing’s … 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
You write fiction because you’re inspired; you have many ideas you want to share. Unfortunately, the nitty gritty of writing can be challenging. Sooner or later, your inspiration flags. You despise your characters and decide that your plot is silly. Want to light a fire under your characters? Motivate them. Writing becomes easier when you … Read more
When you’re writing fiction, you’re writing about characters in conflict, and the more believable you can make your novel’s conflicts, the better. Conflicts can be major (battlefields in a war), or minor: “you promised you’d buy milk on your way home!” Want to write a page-turner? Do that by ensuring that the conflicts between your … Read more