Tag Archives: fiction
Why Nonfiction Writers Must be Storytellers Too by Pamela Mytroen
Why bother telling a story in a nonfiction piece? After all, your readers just came by for information; they’ll find what they need and be satisfied, won’t they? 3 reasons why you need to tell a story in a non-fiction piece: You’re in competition with thousands of other writers. When a reader looks for truth,… Read more »
What They Write and Why by Steph Beth Nickel
What They Write and Why Are you part of a writers’ group? The ladies I’ve met with over the past decade are diverse, as is their writing. But we’ve learned much during our time together, including what we want to write and why—for now at least. Memoir Barbara is working on a talk she will… Read more »
What Should I Write? by Steph Beth Nickel
What Should I Write? This is the first in a four-part series exploring what you should write and why. Whether you make your living as a writer or are brand new to the adventure, it’s good to ask yourself these questions from time to time. How do you decide what to write? Here are nine… Read more »
Writers Must Read by Steph Beth Nickel
Stephen King said, “If you don’t have time to read, you don’t have the time (or the tools) to write. Simple as that.”
Fiction Writing 101: Part 9 – Beguiling Beginnings – Janice L. Dick
Plato said, “The beginning is the most important part of the work.” Kimberly Yuhl suggests you have eight words to capture your reader’s attention. Rob Weatherhead states in the article, Say it Quick, Say it Well (please excuse the grammar), that the attention span of a modern internet consumer is short. “Studies have shown that… Read more »
Fiction Writing 101: Part 8 — Janice Dick
In my Fiction Writing 101 series, I often refer to James Scott Bell and his writing books and tools, especially Plot & Structure. My copy is well-marked and highlighted. That’s where I first heard the differentiation between an OP and a NOP. OPs are Outline People, NOPs are Non-Outline People. The abbreviations are easy to… Read more »
Fiction Writing 101 – Part Six – Setting (or giving your character a leg to stand on) — Janice Dick
A smile formed on Callie’s face at the sight of Tom. It had been so long. “Welcome by to the land of the living,” she said. “It’s good to be back. What have you been doing in my absence? I hope you managed to keep out of trouble.” “Of course, what do you think?” She… Read more »
Creating Authentic Characters — Janice Dick
There are many methods for creating fictional characters. We’ll look at how to: create characters from our imaginations use people we know and alter them to be unrecognizable create conglomerates using characteristics from a number of people use actual people
Genre in Fiction — Janice Dick
Before we begin talking about plot outlines, character development and setting, let’s discuss a little concept called genre. The word is pronounced john-ra or zhon-ra, and it simply means kind or variety. In our case, it refers to the kinds of stories we read and write.
The Basic Elements of Fiction — Janice Dick
When I present a talk on novel writing, I often ask the audience for their input on the basic elements of fiction, and they come up with several immediately: plot, setting and character. Let’s begin with these. Plot, according to James Scott Bell in his excellent how-to book Plot & Structure, is: “1) a small… Read more »