So when a writer sits down to pen a tale, do they intentionally try to teach a lesson? That’s a great question and I’ve noticed that some people seem to think this. I think this reflects the power of a good story. As an author, I can honestly say that I’ve never written a storyContinue reading “Story Telling”
Category Archives: Writer Tools
Brainstorming: The First Step to Writing Your Book
Do you have a creative idea you’d like to turn into a novel but aren’t sure of the first steps today? That’s totally understandable. The biggest first step is to explore your idea and something that helps me the most is to ask questions. Usually a story idea begins with something that inspires us. WhatContinue reading “Brainstorming: The First Step to Writing Your Book”
Feedback: Working with Editors
Every writer, at some point, needs to work with an editor. And any experienced author knows the importance of doing this before publishing their book. While not all my experiences with editors has been good, I have been fortunate to find some pretty amazing people who care about my work and my voice as anContinue reading “Feedback: Working with Editors”
Memorable Characters and Why We Love Them
Imagine with me for a moment. You open a new book and read the first few lines. The story pulls you in and soon you’re lost. You can’t put the book down. The main character just captivates you and you are compelled to find out how their journey ends! Ever experience this? If you loveContinue reading “Memorable Characters and Why We Love Them”
Naming Characters: Nice to meet you!
One thing I find myself doing is keeping track of names I like. There are just some names that I hear, hold on to and wait for the right character to come along and claim it! Some of my favourite names have found their characters as they are a part of manuscripts in progress. OneContinue reading “Naming Characters: Nice to meet you!”
Naming Characters: What’s in a name?
As I mentioned in the previous post, the name of a character is a big part of creating a character. I like to choose names that suit a particular aspect of the character. In Hidden, all dragon and names given to the Arelian race were colours that matched their skin tones. This was actually statedContinue reading “Naming Characters: What’s in a name?”
Naming Characters: Who are you?
Naming a character might be a bit like naming a child. Except in this case, I already know the character intimately because as the author, they are someone I’ve spent a great deal of time creating and thinking about. I know their personality, their likes and dislikes, their strengths and weaknesses and how they’re goingContinue reading “Naming Characters: Who are you?”
The Writing Process: Outlining
Now that all our disjointed ideas are starting to take shape, it’s time to take one more step before typing that first riveting sentence of our first draft! Again for anyone writer who might say, I don’t plot! I fully hear you. I tried plotting when I wrote my first few manuscript attempts and spentContinue reading “The Writing Process: Outlining”
The Writing Process: Structure
In my previous blog, I talked about what brainstorming looks like for me so today’s focus is going to look at what I do with all those notes and scrambled ideas. Once I’ve spent a sufficient amount of time working with an idea, looking at possibilities, filling in gaps, asking questions, etc… I take theContinue reading “The Writing Process: Structure”
The Writing Process: Brainstorming
One question I am often asked about when people find out I’m a writer is: How do you come up with all those ideas? It’s a fair question and this week’s blogs are dedicated to looking at bit at The Writing Process. I’d like to clarify at the start that these are only strategies thatContinue reading “The Writing Process: Brainstorming”
K. M. Wray 