A question that comes up a lot is Plotting. How do you create your plot, what are the best methods for plotting, how do you plan all the different parts of your novel? So, today I am discussing the structure I use for my plotting.
Category: Writing Advice
Writing a Query Letter
On the blog, today, I thought I would share a blog post from Mae Clair over at Story Empire who wrote a great piece on writing query letters.
A great article for anyone who is considering querying their work.
Hi, SEers. Mae here today to discuss a topic that usually makes authors cringe. There are two things I despise writing—a book synopsis, and a query letter. I’ve had to suck it up and do the former, but until the end of last year, writing a query letter for literary representation was something I’d avoided.
I have, however, been sitting on a finished manuscript for almost two years. As a hybrid author, I’ve been published by a traditional small press, and have indie-pubbed my own work. The one goal that has escaped me is to find a home with a Big Five publisher. Most of us dream of that, right?
At the end of 2021, I decided to try. The first step—almost as hard—means finding an agent. We all know this is a lengthy process, almost assuredly layered with plenty of rejection. I’ve read horror stories from NYT bestselling authors…
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Why You Need Realism Within Your Fiction Writing
How do you use realism in your fiction? This question is especially important to Fantasy and Sci-fi writers. Fiction is a fabrication, not the reality or truth we know. Fantasy or sci-fi fiction is considered the fantastical, often unbelievable. But that doesn't mean that realism needs to get flung out the window. In fact, it can be the foundation we build our story upon.
I Tested the Read Aloud Feature on Word
If you caught this week's podcast episode, we talked about reading our work aloud to help catch anything that sounds odd or clunky. In that episode, I mentioned the fact there are programs that will read your text aloud. Well, apparently my version of Microsoft Word has a Read Aloud feature that I didn't know about. So, I tried it!
Top 5 Blog Posts Of 2021
Last time I did this, was back in 2019 I believe. So I wanted to do it again, although I had hoped to get it done in January (but obviously that never happened). While 2021 didn't hit the highs of 2019 for stats, it didn't do too badly either. So I decided to have a look at which blog posts people really loved.
When Are You Ready For Professional Editing?
Reblog from WritersHelpingWriters.net by Lisa Poisso Many writers equate preparing for a professional edit with revision. We’ll cover a few revision tasks in this article, but revision is only half the battle. Preparing your manuscript is the first part of getting ready for editing. The second part is preparing yourself.
Why It Is Super Important To Audit Your Blog
Bloggers, when was the last time you gave your blog an audit? If you've been following my monthly goals, you'll be aware that I've been "updating" my older blog posts. This has been a mammoth of a task as I had around 400 posts I wanted to go back through and check. While this seems like the behaviour of a crazy person, I assure you it was important.
Not Everyone Will Be Interested In Your Novel
Do you love every book you've ever read? My guess is, not. You may, like me, not even love every book by your favourite author! And that's okay (no matter how guilty I sometimes feel about that). It's important to remember that you don't love every book, that not every story you read will draw you in, not every main character's journey will affect you deeply. And the same can be said for your story
Why Perfectionism Could Be Stifling You
Do you consider yourself a perfectionist? Do you constantly strive to do better, be better? Perfection is as elusive as quicksilver. It is the unicorn people desperately search for, claiming to see glimpses of it. Just need that little more time, more patience and finally, we'll see it, we'll reach it.
5 of My Most Popular Blog Posts in 2019
Since we are still in January, I thought I'd take this opportunity to look back over my blog and see which posts people seemed most interest in visiting. I am always working on this blog, planning content, updating old posts, adding to my ever-growing list of topics, listening to my readers requests...so I wanted to see how last year turned out. It was my best year ever for visitors and comments and I'm so thrilled about that. So I decided to have a look at which blog posts people really loved.
Author Ari Meghlen Official Website 