A lot of writers—myself included—have characters with similar names. For one novel, I found about seven names that all started with the letter j. While we get these names right because we know the characters well, readers, who are learning them, might mix them up. Changing character names is hard though. We spend a lot … More CWM: #17 — Characters with similar names
Dialogue tags can be tricky. But they’re easy to understand after knowing the difference between them and action beats. Dialogue tags show who’s speaking and how they’re speaking. These can include but are not limited to: Dialogue tags are formatted with a comma before the ending quotation, and a period goes after the tag. For … More CWM: #13 — Dialogue tags vs. action beats
Showing instead of telling is difficult. Most of the time, it’s hard to think of how to show something. I forgot who gave me this writing tip, but it’s one of the best ones I know: show through action. Or, in other words, show through your character interacting with the world. Here’s an example: It … More Best way to show instead of tell
We’ve all heard the saying show, don’t tell. Even as I edit, I find instances where I need to point that out. However, telling does have a purpose. It’s about how it’s used. And perhaps understanding it more will help writers know when and when not to use it. There are two main concepts where … More When to tell instead of show
Lately, I’ve seen a few writers overuse character names. They would use a name almost every chance they could. Here’s a fictional example: John walked over to Laurencia with the biggest smile on his face. He turned with his back away from Laurencia, careful not to let Laurencia see the paper behind his back. John … More CWM: #9 — Overusing character names
There are many POVs with questions surrounding all of them. I want to break them all down and discuss the biggest concerns in different posts. Today, I’ll talk about third person POV. THIRD PERSON Third person has the most variety out of all POVs. There are three types: third omniscient, third objective, and third limited. … More POV talk: third person
There are many POVs with questions surrounding them. I want to break them all down and discuss the biggest concerns in different posts. Today, I’ll talk about first person POV. FIRST PERSON First person is intimate between the reader and the main character (MC). You get front row seats through the MC’s eyes. It also … More POV talk: first person
Creating strong characters is hard but important for readers to stay immersed in the story. Here are three main tips to help write characters: SHOW THE ADJECTIVES Instead of saying “Jocelyn is caring,” show how she’s caring. Does she take care of a child? Is she always there for others? Does she risk herself to … More 3 tips on writing characters
I’m sure we’ve all come across a character in a book who we didn’t feel anything toward much. We weren’t worried about the character’s well-being. Which doesn’t help us want to continue reading. It can take many drafts to get into a character’s head and develop them on the page. Some characters are harder to write than … More CWM: #7 — Not developing characters
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