Marketing guru: Put your characters on social media

Posted on 01/26/2020 at 12:00 PM by Sadye Scott-Hainchek

We promise we’re not looking to add more social media tasks to your plate. But Sandra Beckwith of Build Book...

Categories: Behind the scenes

Tagged As: Characters, Marketing, Social media and websites, The Book Designer

How to write a villain who feels real to your readers

Posted on 01/22/2020 at 10:00 AM by Sadye Scott-Hainchek

Author Suzanne Collins revealed yesterday that her Hunger Games prequel would tell the back story of the hated President Snow....

Categories: Behind the scenes

Tagged As: Characters, Jane Friedman, Writing advice

One author's tips on writing from multiple points of view

Posted on 01/16/2020 at 09:29 AM by Sadye Scott-Hainchek

Sometimes it’s screamingly obvious — your story can only be told from one character’s point of view. Other times, you...

Categories: Behind the scenes

Tagged As: Characters, Writer's Digest, Writing advice

Here's how you can tell the reader what your character is feeling

Posted on 12/28/2019 at 12:00 PM by Sadye Scott-Hainchek

C.S. Lakin isn’t going to demand that you show and not tell the emotions your character is feeling. In fact,...

Categories: Behind the scenes

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

How a writing instructor chooses her novel's point of view

Posted on 12/27/2019 at 01:00 PM by Sadye Scott-Hainchek

Over the holiday, we listened to a collection of short stories that included a few tales told in the second-person...

Categories: Behind the scenes

Tagged As: Characters, Writer's Digest, 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

5 ways your novel's setting can power the story

Posted on 11/02/2019 at 12:00 PM by Sadye Scott-Hainchek

Your choice of a setting for your story should be anything but accidental or incidental. Author Jane Bernstein shares five...

Categories: Behind the scenes

Tagged As: Characters, Plot / narrative, Writer's Digest, Writing advice

3 exercises to help develop a well-rounded protagonist

Posted on 10/20/2019 at 12:00 PM by Sadye Scott-Hainchek

Your protagonist should be a well-developed character, not just a caricature. Easier said than done, right? Well, professional ghostwriter Justin...

Categories: Behind the scenes

Tagged As: Characters, Joanna Penn

Editor: Here's how your opening pages can welcome readers in

Posted on 08/31/2019 at 12:00 PM by Sadye Scott-Hainchek

Developmental editor Katie McCoach served as a judge for a writing contest earlier this year. In total, she read a...

Categories: Behind the scenes

Tagged As: Characters, First lines and first chapters, Plot / narrative, Writing advice

All the science-fiction writing tips that Writer's Digest has to offer

Posted on 08/14/2019 at 03:00 PM by Sadye Scott-Hainchek

Writer’s Digest has a new post on how to write a science-fiction novel, but the simplicity of that title undersells...

Categories: Behind the scenes

Tagged As: Characters, Plot / narrative, Science fiction, Writer's Digest, Writing advice