You should always leave your reader caught up in your dialogue, not lost in it. Good formatting is key to making dialogue enjoyable and effortless to read [that’s why formatting is the focus of Week 1 ofour writing course,How to Write Dialogue]. Here are some guidelines for how to wri...
Learning how to write fiction is one thing, butwriting for teensis a whole different ball game. As a teen and an avid YA reader myself, I have a few tips for you. Want to learn how to write a book from start to finish?Check outHow to Write a Novel: The Complete Guidefor fiction...
A good first step is to decide what kind of novel you want to write. Here are some common novel genres, and how to develop a story idea for each of them. 1. Romance In a typical romance plot, two people fall in love but must overcome problems or obstacles to be together. Most roma...
If you're struggling with dialogue, here's a shortcut. Just think of someone who speaks the way your character might. Then, whenever your character is speaking, try to hear that person's voice in your head. When you're writing or revising dialogue, you might also find it helpful to sa...
To get this part of writing dialogue down pat, you need to start out by knowing your characters inside out. How does your character talk? Do they come with verbal quirks? Non-verbal quirks? Jay Gatsby’s “old sport,” for example, gives him a distinctive, recognizable voice. It stands...
“Said” is your friend.When it comes to dialogue, there can be the temptation to spice things up a bit by using tags like “exclaimed,”“asserted,” or “remarked.” And while there might be a time and place for these,90% of the time, “said” is the best tagto use. Anything ...
There is one sure-fire way of improving your novel fast. . . You may know the fundamentals of how to write fiction. You may be more than competent in plot, structure and characters. But if your dialogue is dull it will drag the whole story down. On the other hand, if your dialogue...
Whatever you write: blog posts, short stories, client pieces – I suspect that, at some point, you’ve at least considered writing a novel.
The inciting incident is one of the most important plot points in any story. A great inciting incident should pave the way for everything else to follow. So what exactly is the inciting incident, and how do you write an effective one?
and with disaster; a good plot keeps characters on the firing-line, ever ready for action; the power of thought groups characters together in the daylight and transfers them in the dark; and snappy dialogue and constant action make it unnecessary for you to insert long paragraphs of ...