Characters are a huge part of our stories, and even if you have a great idea and wonderful prose, a story can flop if the characters just aren’t that great or unrealistic. So, what can you do to make your characters stand on their own two feet? In truth, it can really be summed up… Read More
Dialogue Woes
Dialogue. For some writers, the very word sends shivers down our spines and tremors to our fingers. Never fear, it’s not as bad as you think! First, you need to know the basics of dialogue punctuation. 1. Use a comma inside the quotation marks to end a line of dialogue when using a standard dialogue… Read More
You Don’t Have to Have Had
When writing in past tense, it is sometimes very tempting to slip a “had” where, in truth, there is no need for it. Example: She was leaving town sooner than she had expected. In the sentence above, honestly there is no need for “had”. Cutting that one word may not seem like a huge change,… Read More
Leave the Passive in the Past
In this post, I’m going to talk a little about passive and active voice. What exactly is passive voice? Simply put, passive voice occurs when the subject performing the action is not the focus of the sentence. Typically, you can identify passive voice with the following formula: “to be” words + past participle = passive… Read More
I came, I saw, I edited
One of first things that I think most writers should learn is how to keep the audience (the reader) close to their characters. Of course, this depends on whether you are writing in first person or third and whether or not you purposely want to distance your reader for whatever reasons. Typically, however, the goal… Read More
Write and Wrong
In November, I will be posting my first article involving writing advice. I wanted to take this opportunity to point out that many of my posts are going to be opinion based and also that there are many exceptions to the “rules” of writing. Writing should be a creative outlet above all else, and if… Read More
We All Start Somewhere
Being a writer can be a lonely and confusing path. I have learned so much over the past few years, and I would like to share my personal experiences in hopes of spreading this knowledge for the benefit of everyone! Here I will discuss everything from small tips, common mistakes I see while beta reading… Read More
