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,” [...]

Graphic Novels

Graphic Novels for Kids and Teens
Are you like me? Clueless about graphic novels? Here are 15 resources to get us up to speed! THere are resources for writing, illustrating, reading, evaluating and submitting graphic novels.

How to Write a Children’s Picture Book

Ebook: How to Write a Children’s Picture Book
It started out as 30 Days to a Stronger Picture Book. But now, (drum roll, please), it’s an Ebook. Expanded from it’s original format, it now includes new sections on

Try Ideas

You Must Try it On
I’m watching “What Not to Wear,” TLC’s fashion advice show. The hosts, Stacy and Clinton preach one thing that struck me today: you must try clothes on to see if they fit and look the way you want. You can’t tell anything by just looking at something on a hanger. You [...]

boring characters in novels

I’m worried. :-/
Are my characters boring?
One-Note Characters
One common difficulty is to create characters with a wide range of emotions. Yes, your character may be chronically sad or mad; but

Supporting characters

Make supporting characters interesting
Wednesday, I went to north central Arkansas to teach a professional development class and on the way up, I listened to an audio version of T is for Trespass by Sue Grafton, the 20th Kinsey Millhone mystery.

At one point the detective calls a college to do a background check on a suspect. [...]

33 pages

The 33 page picture book
No, there are no 33-page picture books. Not yet.
At a recent conference, though, I had a discussion about why picture books are usually 32 pages. One person suggested

Plot: My personal approach

My Plotting is Messy
This week, we’ve discusses 9 ways to plot. So, how do I plot?
Basic story line. Two of these are probably worthless for me:

Plot Enhancers

In parts 1 & 2, I discussed 8 ways to plot. This last plotting idea is about deepening and extending the effectiveness of a plot.
9. Success Plot Enhancers.
There are two books which stand out, not for their overall structure of a novel, but for deepening the impact of a novel:

Book Trailers

I’ve followed the book trailer phenomenon for a couple years and wanted to do a post. In 2003, it was just beginning; in 2006, there was lots of experimenting; in 2009, it seems here to stay and writers should take it as a given that they need a book trailer for trade books. Here’s some [...]