Rich Prewriting Enhances Novel

Rich Prewriting Enhances Novel
I’m currently researching material for my novel.
Setting. I’ve sort of settled on a setting; often for me, the setting comes first. I’m looking at sequences of events, variations on those sequences, variations in how the setting might look at different times, some of the odd-ball jobs in this setting, etc. I’m [...]

Give Me Your File Drawers and I’ll Give you Cash

A Gold Mine Awaits in Your File Drawers
Take a good look at the files in your file drawers! You could be rich by mining those drawers.
There are snatches of dialogue, character sketches, interesting anecdotes, tons of research and facts on obscure things. For example, from my research for novels, I can tell you about [...]

Old Manuscripts? 2 Questions Before Deciding to Revise

This entry is part 3 of 3 in the series File Cabinets
I’m at a place where I’m looking for a new novel idea. (Yes, I’m still looking around for a new idea. I’m slow this time, but I think I’ve found an event that is fascinating. Reading background material now.)
One strategy I’m using to find [...]

Are You in Pain?

Are you in Pain? Question for your character.
So, I’m sitting at the hosptial, waiting for my husband to follow in Harry Smith’s footsteps and get the Couric Procedure (screening colonoscopy). Every wall has a sign asking, “Are you in pain?

0 No Pain/Happy face

Opening Lines

12 Ways to Start a Novel
First lines. We all obsess over our novel’s first lines, and rightly so, because from it the rest of the story must flow naturally and without a pause. Here are 10 strategies to use on first lines for your novel. I’ve illustrated them with the “100 Best Lines from Novels,” [...]

Dialogue Talk

Doing the character checklist this week, I realized that I hadn’t written much about dialogue. Oh, I have a couple times.

Character Checklist

Character Checklist

EXTERNALS
Name or Nickname: Does the character’s name evoke something about him or her? Does it resonate in the story?
Character Roles and Jobs. Have you fully explored the possibilities of family and community roles? Are they working at cliche jobs or fascinating jobs?

Plotting with Scenes

This entry is part 3 of 8 in the series Build a Stronger Plot
This is part of a continuing series on plot.
Plotting with Scenes
The second level of plotting is Scenes: this is where the story moves from the cliched outline level to the specific level of your story.
Moving from Abstract to Concrete
Suppose you want to [...]

after the holidays

Picking up the threads of a story is difficult after a holiday. Here’s four suggestions for making it easier:
Read. Read through a couple

Separate POV chapters

More Than One POV? Split to Revise
My current draft of my WIP novel has two point of view characters. I’ve just copied each POV into its own separate file to revise and edit.

Voice. The main reason for this is to work on getting a consistent voice for each point of view. When they are intertwined, [...]