Take the time to engage your reader emotionally

Posted on 11/20/2019 at 10:52 AM by Sadye Scott-Hainchek

Keeping your reader engaged and interested in your story doesn’t mean rattling off events at an auctioneer’s speed. C.S. Lakin...

Categories: Behind the scenes

Tagged As: C.S. Lakin / Live Write Thrive, Joanna Penn, Plot / narrative, Writing advice

Keep your reader guessing to keep them reading

Posted on 11/16/2019 at 12:00 PM by Sadye Scott-Hainchek

In fiction, tension isn’t about clenching your fists or gritting your teeth — or stating that your protagonist is doing...

Categories: Behind the scenes

Tagged As: C.S. Lakin / Live Write Thrive, Plot / narrative, Writing advice

Advice and tools for naming your characters

Posted on 11/14/2019 at 12:24 PM by Sadye Scott-Hainchek

A character’s name isn’t a throwaway decision, but it shouldn’t be something that stalls your writing process. Dave Chesson shares...

Categories: Behind the scenes

Tagged As: Characters, Dave Chesson (the Kindlepreneur), Writing advice

How to draw readers into your nonfiction book

Posted on 11/13/2019 at 03:37 PM by Sadye Scott-Hainchek

Author and ghostwriter Joshua Lisec may have described his process for writing a compelling nonfiction book as outlining. But trust...

Categories: Behind the scenes

Tagged As: Joanna Penn, Nonfiction, Writing advice

C.S. Lakin: Listen to your instincts about story-telling

Posted on 11/11/2019 at 04:30 PM by Sadye Scott-Hainchek

We’re often told to trust our instincts in personal decision-making. C.S. Lakin believes you authors should do the same thing...

Categories: Behind the scenes

Tagged As: C.S. Lakin / Live Write Thrive, Writing advice

How to stay mentally strong while writing dark fiction

Posted on 11/11/2019 at 11:25 AM by Sadye Scott-Hainchek

No matter what you’re writing, it can be hard to quiet the critical voices in your head as you work....

Categories: Behind the scenes

Tagged As: Horror, Joanna Penn, Thriller, Writing advice

Two-minute tip: Three questions to ask while revising your novel

Posted on 11/08/2019 at 04:00 PM by Sadye Scott-Hainchek

You know it’s time to revise your novel once you’ve finished the rough draft. So what are you looking for...

Categories: Behind the scenes

Tagged As: Editing, Romance Writers of America, Video, Writing advice

Why you need to leave some things out of your memoir

Posted on 11/08/2019 at 11:54 AM by Sadye Scott-Hainchek

Even if you’ve tightly focused your memoir, making sure it’s not an autobiography, you’ll still be faced with the issue...

Categories: Behind the scenes

Tagged As: Jane Friedman, Memoir, Writer's Digest, Writing advice

14 questions to ask about each of your novel's scenes

Posted on 11/07/2019 at 11:45 AM by Sadye Scott-Hainchek

When you revise your novel, you should be ensuring that each scene is as strong as it can be. Christian...

Categories: Behind the scenes

Tagged As: Editing, Plot / narrative, Writing advice

Eighteen writing rules that you can break

Posted on 11/06/2019 at 03:00 PM by Sadye Scott-Hainchek

Rules comfort some of us — and chafe many others. We have some good news for writers in the latter...

Categories: Behind the scenes

Tagged As: Editing, Language, Writing advice