Put some thought into choosing character names

Posted on 03/15/2021 at 11:24 AM by Sadye Scott-Hainchek

Given how often we simply keep the names our pets come with, we can empathize with any author who struggles...

Categories: Behind the scenes

Tagged As: Characters, Writer's Digest

5 tips for a successful co-writing experience

Posted on 03/13/2021 at 12:00 PM by Sadye Scott-Hainchek

Writer’s Digest has been asking co-writing duos to describe how they’ve made their partnerships work. Most recently up: Simon Turney...

Categories: Behind the scenes

Tagged As: Writer's Digest, Writing advice

Trash talking: How to use dialogue in a fight scene

Posted on 03/11/2021 at 03:00 PM by Sadye Scott-Hainchek

Author and trained fighter Carla Hoch has noticed there are two different camps when it comes to fight scenes in...

Categories: Behind the scenes

Tagged As: Writer's Digest, Writing advice

How to make the rules for your time-travel novel

Posted on 03/09/2021 at 10:41 AM by Sadye Scott-Hainchek

The only universal rule in writing time-travel fiction seems to be that you, as the author, make the rules that...

Categories: Behind the scenes

Tagged As: Fantasy, Science fiction, Writer's Digest

Add an animal to your novel

Posted on 03/06/2021 at 12:00 PM by Sadye Scott-Hainchek

Animals aren’t just for children’s books. Writer’s Digest editor Moriah Richard says that as long as the four-legged friend serves...

Categories: Behind the scenes

Tagged As: Characters, Writer's Digest

Craft tips for writing crime fiction

Posted on 03/03/2021 at 04:09 PM by Sadye Scott-Hainchek

A retired police sergeant recently shared his advice on writing crime fiction. And if you read that post, you’ve checked...

Categories: Behind the scenes

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

Quick tips on writing mysteries and thrillers

Posted on 02/27/2021 at 12:00 PM by Sadye Scott-Hainchek

We’ve mentioned before that we like to sprinkle in easy-to-digest writing advice amongst the deeper dives. Here’s an instance of...

Categories: Behind the scenes

Tagged As: Mystery, Thriller, Writer's Digest, Writing advice

What makes it a psychological thriller?

Posted on 02/24/2021 at 03:59 PM by Sadye Scott-Hainchek

The psychological thriller genre found author Sebastian Fitzek, rather than the other way around. But in the time since he...

Categories: Behind the scenes

Tagged As: Thriller, Writer's Digest

7 suggestions (not mandates) for crime novels

Posted on 02/19/2021 at 12:00 PM by Sadye Scott-Hainchek

After nearly forty novels (and bestseller status), author Dana Stabenow has an idea of what works. That said, she open...

Categories: Behind the scenes

Tagged As: Mystery, Thriller, Writer's Digest, Writing advice

One framework for retelling a myth

Posted on 02/16/2021 at 03:00 PM by Sadye Scott-Hainchek

With several retellings of myths like Circe and The Mere Wife having made a splash in recent years, you may...

Categories: Behind the scenes

Tagged As: Writer's Digest, Writing advice