Welcome to this week’s Master Your Craft post! Each Wednesday we’ll discuss prewriting and drafting a new book from the BIG IDEA to QUERYING. Last week, we talked about Sentence, Paragraph, Chapter, and Story Length. This week, we’ll discuss Ten Steps to Tightening. One of the important steps in the revision process is tightening. This is a multi-level, multi-step process, but oh so important to make your … Continue reading MYC: Tightening
Welcome to this week’s Master Your Craft post! Each Wednesday we’ll discuss prewriting and drafting a new book from the BIG IDEA to QUERYING. Last week, we talked about Creating Interesting Dialogue and Description. This week, we’ll discuss making sure the content and sentence, paragraph, chapter, and word count work for your reader. As you are revising, one important step in the process is to make sure … Continue reading MYC: Make Your Story Fit Your Reader
Welcome to this week’s Master Your Craft post! Each Wednesday we’ll discuss prewriting and drafting a new book from the BIG IDEA to QUERYING. Last week, we continued our series on revision with a look at first and last pages. This week, we’re diving into making your language shine. After the long slog of drafting and re-drafting and revising and editing, it can be hard to remember what … Continue reading MYC: Playing with Language
Welcome to this week’s Master Your Craft post! Each Wednesday we’ll discuss prewriting and drafting a new book from the BIG IDEA to QUERYING. Last week, we talked about the Power of Metaphor. This week, we’ll discuss writing “other” characters. What is writing “Other”? It simply means writing characters that are not like yourself. Some writers are terrified to try this. If you’ve ever witnessed arguments about … Continue reading MYC: Writing “Other” with Sensitivity
Welcome to this week’s Master Your Craft post! Each Wednesday we’ll discuss pre-writing and drafting a new book from the BIG IDEA to QUERYING. Last week, we talked about revising your world building. This week, Gita Trelease and Gabrielle Byrne talk about how to create powerful metaphors. Metaphor and simile are among the richest, most useful tools in any writer’s kit. The word “metaphor” comes from the … Continue reading MYC: Using Metaphor
Welcome to this week’s Master Your Craft post! Each Wednesday we’ll discuss prewriting and drafting a new book from the BIG IDEA to QUERYING. Last week, we continued our series on revision with Editing the Big Picture. This week, we’re diving in to crafting dynamic dialogue. Are your readers complaining of stilted dialogue, too many monologues, or not enough “voice” in your characters’ spoken words? If yes, you … Continue reading MYC: Dynamic Dialogue
Welcome to this week’s Master Your Craft post! Each Wednesday we’ll discuss prewriting and drafting a new book from the BIG IDEA to QUERYING. Last week, we talked about the importance of Pacing and Tension. This week, we’re looking at emotion. I don’t know about you, but this topic brings out a lot of emotion because it is so closely tied to the phrase writers love to hate: show … Continue reading MYC: How and When to Write Emotion
Welcome to this week’s Master Your Craft post! Each Wednesday we’ll discuss prewriting and drafting a new book from the BIG IDEA to QUERYING. Last week, we looked at two Pennies’ thoughts on revising while drafting. This week, we’re talking about the very first step in revising your novel: letting it sit. Congratulations! You’ve written the first draft of your novel! Yay you! Now what? You … Continue reading MYC: Letting it Sit
Welcome to this week’s Master Your Craft post! Each Wednesday we’ll discuss prewriting and drafting a new book from the BIG IDEA to QUERYING. Last week, we looked at the saggy middle. Today we’re tackling a somewhat controversial subject: revising while drafting. Two of our Pennies sat down and discussed their different approaches to revising your manuscript while you’re still drafting it. Richelle: When I say … Continue reading MYC: Two Opinions on Revising While Drafting
Welcome to this week’s Master Your Craft post! Each Wednesday we’ll discuss prewriting and drafting a new book from the BIG IDEA to QUERYING. Last week, we covered Facing the Blank Page. This week, I’ll discuss the “saggy middle”. Note: Handy list of Master Your Craft topics so far. The “saggy middle” happens to the unsuspecting at any time. Some are struck down during plotting … Continue reading MYC: Two Steps to Make the Saggy Middle Berry, Berry Good
Today’s Master Your Craft post is a recap. Each Wednesday we’ve discussed one facet of writing a story. Last week, we finished the section on prewriting. If you started the series late or have gotten busy and missed some posts, here’s your chance to catch up! Below is a list of the posts with links to each. Introducing Master Your Craft The Big Idea Creativity to … Continue reading MYC Review: Getting Ready to Draft
Welcome to this week’s Master Your Craft post! Each Wednesday we’ll discuss prewriting and drafting a new book from the BIG IDEA to QUERYING. Last week, we continued our series with Setting as a Character. For the next few weeks, we will be talking about the humongous and intimidating topic of world building. Today we start by looking at the topic as a whole and how it … Continue reading MYC: Welcome to World Building
