Editors can sometimes get a bad rap among writers. After all, no writer wants to be told their precious book baby needs work! But working with an editor can be an educational experience, so I asked my own editor, the wonderful Nerine Dorman, a few questions! Find out how writers can get the most out […]
writing tips
How do you “Write What You Know”?
If you’ve ever read anything about writing, chances are that you’ll have been advised to write what you know. It’s at this point that some writers will throw up their hands and declare that nothing interesting ever happens to them, so what can they possibly write about? It can also lead you into dangerous territory […]
How do you actually use writing advice?
Writing advice is pretty much everywhere in these glorious days of Google. Even before the advent of the internet, you could guarantee being able to find manuals that would provide you with all manner of writing advice. I even made a list of my favourite how-to books for writers. But given it’s now available in […]
How do you make dialogue more natural?
Do you look at your writing and wish you knew more ways to make the dialogue more natural? Or do you read what you’ve written and wished that you could tell characters apart so that you didn’t have to rely so heavily on dialogue tags? This week’s post aims to give you two techniques you […]
Use Personality Quirks to Make Characters Pop
Think of someone you know. What’s the first thing that springs to mind? Chances are, it’s not what they do for a living. It’s probably not where they live or what colour their hair is. It’s probably a personality quirk. Something that makes them…them. Those little quirks, or foibles, are what takes a character from flat […]
