Setting is an important part of any story. Whether it’s a memoir or a fiction novel, your story’s location can help set the tone of the story. It shows your character’s strengths and weaknesses and bolsters the overall theme of the novel. While visiting the location you plan to use…

Reading a book is an investment. It’s an investment of the reader’s time, trust, and mental fortitude. After all, they took a chance on your book. They are expecting you to deliver on your story. So how do you make sure this happens? …

Edgar Allan Poe. Stephen King. Anne Rice. H.P. Lovecraft. Bram Stoker. Mary Shelley. These are all names that most of us know from the spooky and scary stories they write. They are the masters of the horror fiction genre, thrilling their fans with stories of the unnatural, the gruesome and…

“Show don’t tell.” It can be the bane of fiction writers everywhere. It doesn’t matter if you are new to writing fiction or a seasoned veteran, it is one of those writing rules we all try to follow without compromising our creativity and writing style. But are there instances in…

Sidekicks help the reader discover different aspects of the main character’s personality. They are the ones the main character turns to for advice. Or a good swift kick in the buttocks. Dick Grayson. Bucky Barnes and Sam Wilson. Scooby-Doo. Samwise Gamgee. Wong. Jimmy Olsen. They all have one thing in…

We’ve all suffered from writer’s block and procrastination. Sometimes it takes a real effort to get the words to flow. There is a great way to combat our writer’s woes: writing sprints. We’ve all suffered from writer’s block and procrastination when it comes to our writing. And we’ve all seen…

Triskaidekaphobes beware! It’s Friday the 13th. In case you were wondering, triskaidekaphobia is the “fear of the number 13” according to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary. The word first appeared in print sometime in the late 1800s. No one is really sure if it was used prior to that, but someone came…

Mood. Tone. What’s the difference and why is so important in your writing? Read on to learn how to use mood and tone to evoke an emotional response from your readers. I was going through the questions on a Quora forum that I contribute to and came across one about…

While you can read up on how to write a novel in a variety of literary magazines and trade journals, the truth is, writing a novel is not quite as complicated as the professionals make it sound. As a published author I have had many people ask me, “How do…