Category: Writing Tips

The Dreaded Synopsis—What It REALLY Reveals About Our Writing

There is one word known to strike fear into the hearts of most writers. Synopsis. Most of us would rather perform brain surgery from space using a lemon zester and a squirrel than be forced to boil down our entire novel into one page. Yes one. But alas we need to for numerous reasons. First and foremost, …

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The Girl on The Train & Two Critical Elements of ALL Great Stories

There are two essential components all great writers possess and unfortunately these are highly unnatural abilities. Most of us have to hone and refine and strengthen these skills because they are so counter to human nature. First, most humans run from conflict. Great writers go straight for it. Secondly, most humans really don’t pay attention …

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Why I Hate "The Giving Tree"–But How This Story Makes Us Better Writers

I’m going to say something possibly unpopular and perhaps a bit strange. I hate the children’s book The Giving Tree, even though oddly, it was my favorite book. I remember being five and reading the story and just weeping for the tree, feeling devastated. Understanding what she was feeling. I recall hating the boy and the self-centered …

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Adding Depth to Your Fiction—Body Language 101

Today regular guest writer Alex Limberg is back with a post that will make any of your dialogue scenes sound so much smoother. His piece is about body language. Raise your eyebrows and drop your chin in delight, because Alex is about to help you get under your readers’ skin with your dialogue. Also, you …

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Writer's Block? How to Get Your Novel Unstuck

We’ve all been there. When we started off with this brilliant story idea we just simply knew this was the one. This story we would finish. This time would be different. *insert screeching breaks* (pun intended) Then we hit a wall. We simply can’t seem to move forward no matter how hard we try. We …

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