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Take the Right Step: Backward vs. Backwards
Mess these two words up, and you may be hitting the back space key. That all depends on what side of the Atlantic you’re on, though. If in America, use backward, no “s”. If in Britain, use backwards. Unless you’re using “backward” as an adjective, then use backward as in “The people of the north country…
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Turn Passive Passages into Active Writing
So you’ve written a scene packed with action, ripe with conflict, and filled with tension – but every time you read it, the writing feels flat. The problem may be that you’re writing in passive rather than active voice. Active voice is when the subject of the sentence does (or acts upon) something. In the following…
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Five Great Quotations about Fictional Characters
“When writing a novel a writer should create living people; people not characters. A character is a caricature.” – Ernest Hemingway “If you will practice being fictional for a while, you will understand that fictional characters are sometimes more real than people with bodies and heartbeats.” – Richard Bach “I wanted to invent myself as a…
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How to Finally Finish Your Languishing Novel
Many writers have unfinished novels and short stories sitting on their hard drives or as printouts in a desk drawer. Often coming up with a story idea isn’t a problem, but finding the time or knowing how to finish the work is. There are several approaches any writer can use to finish their story:• Set a deadline…
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Create Media Kit to Promote Your Book
To effectively market your book, you’ll need a media kit. This is a collection of materials that you send to newspapers, radio and television stations, magazines, bloggers and just about anyone else who might in some way mention your book. Sometimes it’s referred to as a press kit. A media kit provides reporters, bloggers and reviewers…
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How to Come Up with a Great Pen Name
Should you decide that you want to use a pen name, the question then arises as to what you pseudonym should be. You’ll probably want to brainstorm several names then think about which one sounds best before going with it. After all, this name will be on your book’s cover, Amazon.com page, and a dozen (if…
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Four Writing Prompts: Finding Identity
Good stories center on the clashing of characters’ goals and motivations. Sometimes a character’s goals and motivations center around finding his identity. Here are four writing prompts for stories that involve the motivation of finding one’s identity. Man vs. natureYour main character is stuck in a perilous environment in which he comes to question all he…
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Don’t Stink Up Your Writing: Breathe vs. Breath
Ever see words so mixed up that you wanted to pinch your nose shut? That happens with me whenever I see these two words confused. “Breathe” is to inhale and exhale, as in “We must breathe oxygen to stay alive.” “Breath” is a solitary moment of inhaling or exhaling or the actual air that is inhaled/exhaled,…
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What is Point of View in a Story?
Every story has an angle or perspective from which it is told. This perspective is called point of view. Notice how the following passage is from an outsider’s perspective, as if the narrator were looking down upon the action from a viewpoint that is able to see all: Even before the sun rose, Evod and Nevar prepared…
