Or as I like to call it: Plotter. In writing a novel you have what we writers like to call either Pantsers or Plotters or somewhere in between. A pantser is someone who writes their novel, as they say, by the seat of their pants. In other words, there is absolutely no plotting of the novel whatsoever. They write their novel as it comes to them. However, with a plotter, it 180 degrees in the opposite direction where they outline everything before they write a single word for their … [Read more...]
N is for Novel
The novel. It's been around for not only years but centuries. It's a place where we can lose ourselves as we read what's been written on the page. We can go off on adventures or fall in love with a prince. We can go to a place only the imagination can make up or a place we've never been before. Novels can be both historical or contemporary. They can teach us things or simply be a nice escape from reality. They can be light and just a fun read or they can be go deep delving into emotions that … [Read more...]
M is for Mentor
In life we can find a mentor for so many things. Athletics. Business. Politics. Our Faith. In writing, finding a mentor to help you be the best writer you can be I feel is one of the most important things we can do. Sometimes you only have one, and if you are fortunate enough you may have more than one. These people take time out of their busy lives to help you as you grow. And they don't just help you in your writing but help you in your life when the time is needed. I feel like I have been … [Read more...]
L is for Literary Agents
How many of us dream of being a published author someday? I have a feeling many of us do, especially if we know we're writers and have been working on a book of any kind. Writing is relatively new for me. I only found writing after the loss of my daughter. I actually started writing while she was in the hospital those sixteen days fighting for her life from what the E. coli did to her little body. But in the end it had wreaked too much havoc on her little body and she went home to be with … [Read more...]
K is for Kindle Matchbook
How many of shop on Amazon today for a new book or whatever else it is we might be looking for? I have a feeling the majority of us go to this cyber giant for whatever it is we plan to read next. Are you one who still like to read the old school way of either a hardback or paperback book? I used to be like that up until about a little over a year ago when I needed to walk on my treadmill to help with hip pain issues I'd been having. However, either walking with a book in hand or even trying … [Read more...]
J is for Julie Lessman
As I sat down at the end of last month going through the alphabet looking for words for each letter, finding a 'J' literary term seemed hard to find. So I started thinking about other avenues I could still write about, but also at the same time somehow be writing related. And then I thought of my friend Julie Lessman. While we've never met in person, we have talked several time either through email or on Facebook. I first heard about Julie from a good friend, Joy Melville (who also happens to … [Read more...]
The Journey with Peggy Wirgau
Please welcome this weeks guest Peggy Wirgau for The Journey. She answers the question: How have you seen God work in your writing journey? Around the time I learned to read came my love for writing. If I had time to spare during a school day in first grade (and I usually did) I composed little rhymes and stories in my head, then wrote them on a large sheet of blue-lined paper from the stack near the window of my classroom. Writing was a joy; fun and freeing, and I couldn’t get enough of it. … [Read more...]
I is for ISBN (International Standard Book Number)
As I sat here thinking toward the end of March what I'd do for each letter of the alphabet over the month of April, one of those letters that's hard to find a word for is the letter 'I'. I wanted to keep my theme going with either literary terms or something writing related and the only thing I could come up with was ISBN. When you're a writer and one day your book gets published, that little number is huge. It's almost like a fingerprint in that an ISBN is unique to each book published. It … [Read more...]
H is for Hook
The hook. One of the most important aspect to an entire book is the hook. You have to hook the reader from the first sentence, first paragraph, first page, first scene, first chapter, and even at the beginning of each scene or chapter. It's what catches the reader's attention and draws them further into the story to where they will want to read more and more. However, if you don't have a great hook, the chances are you may have lost your reader before they've even given you story a chance, … [Read more...]
G is for Genre
When it comes to writing fiction, there is a plethora of things we could write about. One of the first things we need to narrow our choices down to is what genre do we wish to write in. Since I started to write fiction, I've heard time and time again that the genre you need to write in is the genre you read and usually you want to write in the one you read the most because you are most familiar with the format. For me that genre would be romance. I like all versions of it: contemporary, … [Read more...]
