Archive:
Fiction
One of the toughest nuts for you to crack as a novelist is where to start. Two-thirds of my more than 200 published books are novels, so I’ve faced this dilemma more than 140 times. Trust me, starting never gets easier, no matter how many times you’ve done it. But there are common errors to […]
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Don’t you find it ironic when you hear of an umpire cheating? Or a fire station burning? Irony is simply the contrast between two seemingly incongruous facts. But irony is often misidentified. Readers and writers might describe a scene or a bit of dialogue as ironic when really it’s not. Irony highlights the difference between […]
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You’ve settled on the idea for your novel. You’ve narrowed it to a sentence or two, and you’re ready to tackle what seems an insurmountable task—developing your lead character. If you’re an Outliner (one who outlines your novel first), it’s time for character development, an endeavor not for wimps. Spellbinding stories feature believable characters who […]
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So you want to write a book. Becoming an author can change your life—not to mention give you the ability to impact thousands, even millions, of people. But writing a book isn’t easy. As a 21-time New York Times bestselling author, I can tell you: It’s far easier to quit than to finish. You’re going […]
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Redemption has always been a popular theme, especially in—though not limited to—the Inspirational market. However, redemption arcs can easily fall victim to cliché or become artificial constructs designed to put a character in a good light as your story wraps up. Done wrong, they come off planted, cheap, and undeserved. However, crafted effectively, the redemption […]
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