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More Self-Editing Tips for Fiction Authors
If you’ve just finished the first draft of your novel, and reviewed my original list of 10 self-editing tips for fiction authors, please read on for the next 10. (There are 24 tips in total, and 24 is the best one of the lot…) Of course hiring a freelance editorial…
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Self-Editing Tips for Fiction Authors
If you’ve just finished the first draft of your novel, now it’s time to look at my list of self-editing tips for fiction authors. The better your manuscript is before you send it to a fiction editor for some professional attention, the better your final, published book will be. Authors…
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Character Names
Writing a story gives you the freedom to create wonderful, imaginative characters – but have you thought about character names? Character names might need to reflect the setting of your novel. For example, a novel set in Victorian London will have different names from a novel set in contemporary New…
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Writing Flashback Scenes
Writing flashback scenes can be tricky – particularly when a novel has been written in the past tense. In this article, I outline my three top tips for ensuring that your flashback scenes work, and that your readers don’t get lost along the way. Past Tense in a Novel Many…
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Balancing Showing vs Telling in Writing
Many (many!) new writers are confused about balancing showing vs telling. As a writer, you strive to create immersive and engaging stories that captivate readers from beginning to end. One essential skill to master is finding the right balance between showing and telling. In this blog post, we will explore…
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Writing Compelling Dialogue
Writing compelling dialogue will elevate your novel from good to superb. Dialogue is one of the cornerstones of a novel – writing it well will gift your reader with an immersive experience. Dialogue can add depth to your characters, giving them individuality and personality. But many authors find it hard…
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Writing Sex Scenes in Fiction
Let’s talk about sex! Writing sex scenes in fiction can be daunting – but they should be treated just the same as any other scene, and deserve the same level of careful attention. Are sex scenes necessary in your novel? Clearly, not all novels contain sex scenes. Some genres expect…
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A Trustworthy Book Editor Is Not Hard To Find!
Finding a trustworthy book editor shouldn’t be difficult, but I know a lot of authors are concerned about being scammed. They are worried that an editor is going to take their money and do a runner, or do a poor edit, or just not provide them with the service that…
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Reducing Repetition and Redundancy in Your Novel
Make Your Writing Tighter, part 4 How to identify and remove repetition and redundancy in your fiction writing. You might have heard the phrase ‘make every word count’. And you might have heard that ‘tight writing is good writing‘. But what do these phrases actually mean? What constitutes ‘tight writing’?…
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How to Stop Over-Describing in Your Novel
Make Your Writing Tighter, part 3 How to avoid OVERWRITING in fiction novels. You might have heard the phrase ‘make every word count’. And you might have heard that ‘tight writing is good writing‘. But what do these phrases actually mean? What constitutes ‘tight writing’? And what words might not…
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Get Rid of Then, Before and While in Your Novel
Make Your Writing Tighter, part 2 How to avoid OVERWRITING in fiction novels by looking at excessive timeline nudges. You might have heard the phrase ‘make every word count’. And you might have heard that ‘tight writing is good writing‘. But what do these phrases actually mean? What constitutes ‘tight…
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How to Stop Your Novel Sounding Like It’s a Screenplay
Make Your Writing Tighter, part 1 You might have heard the phrase ‘make every word count’. And you might have heard that ‘tight writing is good writing‘. But what do these phrases actually mean? What constitutes ‘tight writing’? And what words might not be necessary? And what is over-directing? There…
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What Is Dialogue in a Novel?
What Even is DIALOGUE? What is dialogue in a novel? It’s how you represent the way your characters are speaking. In books, it tends to be encased within either ‘single quotes’ (common in the UK), or “double quotes” (common in the US). There are many rules relating to dialogue and…
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MS Word Shortcut Keys
A list of the most commonly used Microsoft Word Shortcut keys. This post is also available as a download. When you’re in the midst of typing your book, you will find yourself using the same commands over and over again. If each time it takes you a few seconds to…
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Adverbs – good or bad?
Should authors use adverbs? Or do they weaken the narrative?
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What is Dialogue Within Dialogue?
Dialogue is just another word for speech. Generally, dialogue is separated from standard text using inverted commas (also known as speech marks). These can be either single ( ‘ and ’ ) or double ( “ and ” ). Which style an author chooses is down to personal choice, although…
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What is Phonetic Dialogue?
Is it OK to write speech phonetically (phonetic dialogue) to illustrate an accent or lisp? The answer, as with pretty much everything else, is ‘it depends’. There is a time and place for differentiating characters based on how they speak – for example to indicate a different social background or…
