Have you ever picked up a book and read back cover copy that sent shivers down your spine? You know what I mean: stories located in a peaceful country garden filled with sweetpeas and butterflies, or the brooding castle that bristles with medieval weaponry—these are the settings that tell you what adventures lie in store.
Please welcome Hugh Tipping to our Featured Q&A series at Writer’s Fun Zone. If you’d like to be considered for an interview, check out our guidelines here.
Most writers, sooner or later, will hit the problem of the Sagging Middle. The story pacing slows—the plot might even bore you a little bit now—and you don’t know what to do about it.
You’ve finished your book. After all the hard work, you need a great title. But writing a title is a lot different from writing a full-length novel or even a short story. Writing a title takes creativity, but it isn’t storytelling—it’s marketing. Your potential readers see a title before they see anything in chapter one, and it has to hook them. Companies spend fortunes on finding the right name for new products—names that will resonate with consumers—and so should you.
The goal for every writer has to be writing a book so compelling that readers can’t put it down. Using foreshadowing can help you create that kind of suspense, because it hints at what comes later and motivates the reader to find out what that drama or secret is. Foreshadowing can also convey information that helps readers understand future events.
Many writers, when they sit down to work, look with anxiety or stress at that blank page. Or they’re afraid to send their work out—to editors or publishers—or even for critique. Others are afraid they won’t sell. Or if they have sold, that they won’t sell again.
I, Dave M. Strom, am a technical writer, comic book geek, and budding novelist and short story writer. So far, I specialize in bringing to life Holly Hansson, the Super(wo)man who’d rather be Clark Kent. She’s a writer also.
History is not dull or dry. It is full of all the passion and heroism of the stories we hear on the news every day. Politics were just as vicious back then and love was just as tender.
Many authors think life is a riddle. And they’re right. They also think that making a lot of money from a novel is difficult. That’s also true. But there are simple ways to make...
In this second video, “The 3 Keys to Finish Your Novel,” Ezra shows how to solve the true problem of finishing your novel. If you’re curious to get your novel done by 2012 surrounded...
Guest Columnists / Writing Craft
by Beth Barany · Published April 21, 2011 · Last modified April 20, 2011
Welcome to the weekly series on craft. We authors need to write excellent books for our readers to enjoy. This week’s guest author on craft, Kat Duncan, shares about author’s voice. Check out her...
I just love Xena’s joy, glee and grit. I love her toughness, and also her sad heart. Love Gabrielle and the jester too. Little know fact: the jester in Xena inspired my character, Jaxter,...
Creativity Tools and Tips / Fantasy and Paranormal
by Beth Barany · Published April 6, 2011 · Last modified November 4, 2012
Turns out Baba Yaga is more popular in the arts than I realized! She’s an old witch in Slavic and Russian folk tales. I associate here with these motifs: * Fire * A house that runs on chicken legs * She eats maidens…
This post is #4 in a series on Artist Entrepreneur Success on what it takes to succeed in business as an author-entrepreneur. Rest to fill the well. Yes, my dears — step away from the computer and get away from the desk.
Subscribe here to get notified each time we publish a post.
Welcome to the Writer’s Fun Zone, a blog for creative writers by Beth Barany, fiction writing teacher and novelist.
Articles by creative writers like you.
Check out the How To Write The Future podcast.
Subscribe to Writer's Fun Zone blog for resources, inspiration, and free resources:
Get these goodies:BONUS
As a bonus, you will also be subscribed to the CreativitySparks (tm) newsletter, full of tips and tools for novelists building a successful career. (Sent 1-2 times per week) By Beth Barany, Editor and Publisher of the Writer's Fun Zone, and a Creativity Coaching for Writers, and a novelist herself.
Beth Barany helps authors get their books completed and out into the world, into the hands of their readers.
Creativity Coach for Writers, NLP Master Practitioner, and Master Teacher, Beth Barany has been there and knows how hard it can be to take your idea and turn it into a real book, that people will actually be interested, and even yearning, to read.
She walks the talk, as her clients like to say. She is the author of the 2012 award-winning young adult fantasy novel Henrietta The Dragon Slayer, as well as the author of the bestselling nonfiction books for authors and aspiring authors.
Ready to finish your book but not sure how?
Hire Beth to help you or take a class at Barany School of Fiction. Or join her Group Coaching Program.
Still have questions? Email Beth.
Recent Comments