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The Importance of Character Arcs and Outlining
By Ron Estrada For some time now, Super G and I have been engaged in a bloody battle to the death* over whether or not we should plot and outline our novels before typing “Chapter 1.” I have now written 4 novels, mostly with the SOP method. Oh, there were notes and I had a…
Romantic Suspense
by Margaret Daley What is a romantic suspense? That’s a good question and one I’ve been asked by more than one person. Obviously it’s a story that has a romance and a suspense. Well, duh—hence the term romantic suspense! Okay, then how much romance and how much suspense? That’s a good question, too. And a…
Avoiding Apostrophe Catastrophes
My family refuses to enter a restaurant with me until they have conducted a search and seize, emptying my purse of anything that even resembles a writing instrument. They tell me they are not going to tolerate waiting to order while I correct, “Its the best!” or “Joes’ Diner loves it’s customers.” Apostrophes. Little marks…
Show Emotion Instead of Naming It
By Camy Tang Instead of naming an emotion, show the character under the strain of the emotion. Instead of writing, “Anger burned through her,” show the anger burning through her, without writing the word “anger.” A volcano exploded in the pit of her stomach, spewing gases up to sear her nose and make her eyes…
Big Dreams Walking?
From the archives March 18, 2010: Are you holding on to your BIG dreams! So am I. I wrote this five years ago and my big dream back then was to get published. Nine months after writing this I was offered a contract for a novella. Not my ideal publishing scenario, but I’ve learned not…
Dialogue Tags
The writing book Self-Editing for Fiction Writers by Renni Browne and Dave King (second edition) is one of the best books for bumping your writing up to the next level and making it look more professional. If you haven’t read this book yet, I strongly suggest you buy it or borrow it and read it…
Creating Quirky Characters
Writers are fabulous people-watchers. We have to be. After all, the imaginary characters we create must seem both true-to-life and intriguing to the reader. One way we add interest and realism to our characters is to give them quirks. My dictionary says a quirk is a peculiarity, and a peculiarity is something that is…
Nuts and bolts on writing
By Margaret Daley Some of my observations and lessons I’ve learned over the twenty-six years I have been writing can be summed up in these 16 “nuts and bolts” of this writing business. 1. Talent is important but equally or more important is perseverance with some luck thrown in. 2. Rejection is part of writing…
What's Wrong with Looking Toward the Mountaintop?
March 2014 It’s been a while since I had something to say. A while since I felt like I had something encouraging to say. Truth is, I’ve been the one needing the encouragement. But today I was reminded of something as I opened by bible for the first time in a long time. Since I…
Growing Grammar: COMMAndments
People generally approach grammar and liver the same way. They either dive in with gusto or grow pale, start sweating, and look for the nearest exit. Okay, perhaps not the most appealing way to start a column that will feature grammar issues, but food analogies seem to work for me.(Food works for me, but that’s…