Are You Irritated or Aggravated?
Does it irritate you when people use aggravate when they mean annoy? Or are you just confused about the correct…
The Secret to Crafting Genuine Characters for Your Novel
Think about what makes you interested or drawn to certain people. What qualities of theirs pull you in? Is it…
Nailing Your Novel’s Genre in Your Opening Scene
In the last two posts on my blog in this Writing for Life section I’ve been exploring how writers can…
Don’t Abuse the Dot-Dot-Dots
Writers often succumb to dot abuse. Well, I’ve heard some people call ellipses “dots.” I’m not talking about the candy…
Add a Bit of Romance to Your Novel
There are three basic secondary character role types in novels, and we’ve looked at the first two: the nemesis or…
Tweaking Your Writing and Genre for Success
Last week I began talking about the wisdom in studying other authors’ works in order to nail a genre. This…
Are You Progressively Tense?
Here’s our next look at tenses. If you missed last week’s post, review this first so you can understand what…
Characters in Novels That Are Allies and Reflections
We’ve been looking at secondary characters in novels these past few weeks, and there is so much more to say…
Nailing Genre by Studying Successful Authors
I’m going to talk a bit about craft in some of these Writing for Life posts since they are off…