Why should you enter a writing contest? I can think of several good reasons: Honest Feedback Writing contests are a great way to get honest feedback on your writing, and we all need honest feedback. Feedback is a gift which can show us what we’re doing well, and where we need to improve on. Feedback …
This is a common question from unpublished writers seeking a traditional publishing contract. It’s not a question I’ve ever seen a traditionally published author ask. Published authors know their process and know what they need to do to submit a manuscript their publisher will accept. Published authors usually have established critique partners who read and …
One of the “rules” of writing I’ve come across is that we should not use colons or semicolons in fiction. I have to admit that I rarely see either punctuation mark in the fiction I read, but is it a real rule … or a guideline? First, let’s look at how to correctly use colons …
Years ago, I read a contemporary Christian novel that was the final in a long-running series that had covered the history of a single fictional family for almost 400 years. The Epilogue was about how their family story was about to be made into a movie. The hero was a young man … who would …
A great hook is one of the keys of great fiction. In Hook Your Readers, Australian psychologist and author Tamar Sloan explains why the hook is essential and offers great tips on creating a compelling hook. In it, she explains the importance of story to the human psyche (which Lisa Cron also addresses in Wired …
Almost all novels are written from first person or third person point of view. If you don’t understand those terms, click here for a post outlining the different points of view. A lot of newer authors like writing in omniscient point of view. After all, that’s how many classic authors wrote, so it must be …
As content creators, we need to understand the basics of intellectual property law, particularly copyright. This post covers the basics of copyright for authors, and links to my more in-depth posts on the topic. Please note that I am not a lawyer, and this is not legal advice. There is a lot of great information …
I usually answer these kinds of questions with an it-depends kind of answer. Sometimes the answer is yes and sometimes it is no, depending on a variety of factors. This is no one of those times. My answer is clear. No. You can’t edit your novel with Grammarly. (And I’m not just saying that because …
It seems that someone asks this question every month or so on one or other of the writing groups I’m in on Facebook: Are Reviewing Circles allowed under Amazon’s Reviewing Guidelines? First, let’s define a reviewing circle (which I have also recently seen described as a reviewing pyramid). A reviewing circle is an attempt to …
It is a truth universally acknowledged that writing a 90,000-word novel is easier than writing 150 words for the back cover. So here are my tips for writing a good book description. First, let’s clear up some terminology. Authors use several different terms to refer to the back cover copy, and some of these are …
