Category: Novels

All of the information about publishing, writing and novels in general.

Are Content Mills Worth The Cost? 0

Are Content Mills Worth Your Money?

Content Mills. How convenient. If you are looking for blog posts, articles for your website or even reviews, page copy or any other form of the written word you may have come across a content mill without even realizing it....

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Why Do I Write?

When Asked Why I Write, I Answer: I don’t. It’s the simple truth. I don’t write screenplays and novels. I give life to them. It’s not merely putting pen to paper, I breathe life into a non-existent void. I expand...

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Ending Scenes or Chapters – The Right Way

Ending scenes the right way can be tricky. There are certain rules that each chapter, or scene, should follow. I know this is counter-intuitive since writing really doesn’t have any rules but bear with me. The idea of a scene...

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Stuck In The Middle, Again

As a writer, we’ve all been there. By “there” I of course mean a myriad of places. Especially the In Between. We’ve all stared at a blank page, a blinking cursor, or the sharpened end of a pencil. We’ve all...

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Butterfly vs. Fate

This little beauty of a blog post is one I wrote about 6 years ago. I still think about the situation now. Amid this self-quarantine time of the 2020 COVID-19 crisis, I figured I would share a more entertaining story...

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Take A Day Off Already!

A Day Off You Say? From the time we first pick up a pen and put words to blank pages, writers are ingrained with one overbearing, overwhelming and over-exaggerated rule: Write every day. We get it from writing classes, instructors,...

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Who You Should Be Writing For

We write stories in a certain genre. We have a connection with a particular audience. Our readers are thought to be of a specific type, age range, nationality or any other aspect we deem we are writing our story to,...

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Will You Synopsis Me, Please?

I have covered the topic of the all mighty synopsis a few times. Yet, I find that this lingering evil needs more exposure. Overcoming fear by acclimation, I suppose. How does one go about a synopsis though? I know some...

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Give Driving Directions

Long ago I learned a valuable life lesson: Not everyone gives good driving directions, not everyone receives driving directions well. You can Learn Writing Lessons From Life As I was just starting out driving (I told you, it was long...

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Voice, On!

Voice is imperative. It’s essential. It is everything. It is quite possible to have one of the greatest storylines ever created, the vast lands, the adorable and lovable characters, the perfect plot twists and the greatest ending ever penned by...

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Research: The Conundrum

Research is touchy. Especially for writers. Women don’t like to feel made a fool of, or gullible. Men know everything and want to prove it. Readers, in general, don’t like being data dumped upon. There is a fine line between...

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Archetype or Arc?

Story Arc and Archetype, Explained Today I will discuss story arc and story archetype. Wait. I hear you say. Aren’t they the same thing? I mean, arc is just an abbreviation of archetype, right? Well… no. They do have some...

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This Blog Post Has Moved

The blog post titled “How Going Outside Will Make Your Book Better” is now a guest blog post for Between The Lines. You can find the blog and all of it’s wonderful information on the BTL website by following this...

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Mar. 01 Writing Prompt

Welcome to a new month! A month of clock movement, warmer weather (hopefully) and writing a lot more words on your WiP. To start off the month, I want to begin at the ending. Essentially, we will talk about endings...

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Playing God Is Torture

As a writer I have seen and heard it all. Everything from the mundane stereotypes all the way to the awkward assumptions. As a reader, I have read it all. Just like in movies, in a book everything has been...

Challenge Accepted 0

Feb. 25 Writing Prompt

Greetings, fellow kids. Today’s writing prompt is more practice on a combination of things. While you are writing this scene, think about the reader’s questions and their desire to have them answered. Keep the scene engaging. You also want to...

Ponder What Happens 0

Feb. 24 Writing Prompt

In yesterday’s prompt we talked (at length-and no I won’t apologize) about dialogue tags. Today, I want to switch things up a bit and cover another little secret of mine. This time it deals with scene transitions. If you missed...

Peter and Mary 0

Feb. 23 Writing Prompt

Well guys, my streak came to an end. I missed the prompt yesterday. In my defense I am dealing with a broken foot that happened yesterday morning. But, I don’t like to make excuses. We all knew this day would...

Setting the Scene 0

Setting a Scene

Setting the scene is as important as creating real-to-life characters. It is an art form and you are the artist. As an artist, we have a plethora of ways to interact with those that wish to be entertained. We act,...

Scary 0

Jan. 13 Writing Prompt

Greetings fellow kids! Today’s writing prompt is designed to get you to think about titles. This can (and does) include things like chapter titles, scene headings and project titles for the novelist and screenwriters out there. It also includes headings...

Self-Doubt 0

The Biggest Killer: Self-Doubt

Literary agents, publishers, editors, synopses, query letters… all scary things, all demanding, demeaning. Sometimes they can be daunting, haunting, loathing as well as loathed. Oftentimes heartbreaking, disconcerting, dispiriting. None of them hold a candle to yourself. You truly are your...

Extra Draft History 0

A Brief History of the Masterclass

Where did The Extra Draft Writing Course come from? Here is a brief history of its conception through today (Plus a BONUS SURPRISE announcement!!). Are you ready to get personal? It All Started About 10 Years Ago… It all started...

Measure Success 0

Measure Success

How does a writer measure success? The easy answer is in number of books sold. After all, that is what the publishers look for and what they return to for a second book or more. What about those writer’s that...

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Dreams Are Meant to Die

It starts in childhood. Dreams while you sleep, dreams during school, dreams of the future and the girl with the pink bowed pony tail. Dreams never really end. They do change shape as we age, but they never die. Or...

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When Characters Talk Back

When Characters Talk Back You spend hours, days, even weeks creating characters to walk the lives you give them in the stories you create. What happens when your characters talk back to you, though? Well, if you are like me...

Scoville Scale Does NOT Belong With Vodka 0

Scoville Scale Does NOT Belong With Vodka

The Scoville scale. A measurement of the amount of “hot” a pepper is. The higher the number, the hotter the pepper. To put it in generic perspective, the Jalapeno is a mere 5,000 scovilles. A Habanero is 100,000 scovilles, and...