For Writers
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© Raissa Figueroa |
If You've Ever Wanted to Write a Book, Here's How
Grammar/ Technical Resources
Word Count & Chapter Length
The Industry Standard for Word Counts (PB, MG, YA, Novels)
AR Book Finder - Find the word counts of your favorite books
Word Count Dracula
Rules of the Road: Chapter Length, and Chapter Length Consistency
Chapter Length Matters. Here's Why.
Guidelines for Word Count (Bookends Literary)
Word Count Dracula
Rules of the Road: Chapter Length, and Chapter Length Consistency
Chapter Length Matters. Here's Why.
Guidelines for Word Count (Bookends Literary)
Rules of the Road: Chapter Length, and Chapter Length Consistency
Chapter Length Matters. Here's Why.
Guidelines for Word Count (Bookends Literary)
Character Driven Stories
Michael Hauge: Inner Conflict
11 Secrets to Writing an Effective Character Description
What Does Your Hero Want? #6 Revealing your Hero's Desires
Character Grid
6 Requirements for Writing Better Character Goals
7 Reasons Your Characters Feel Flat
7 Things Your Character is Hiding
2 Different Types of Lies Your Character Believes
How to Make Your Supportive Characters Shine
The Reasons Readers Didn't Care About Your Protagonist (and 4 Tips on Making them Care)
Lesson 8: Secondary Characters
7 Tips for Creating Awesome Characters
How to Handle Character Backstory in Your Novel
7 Tips for Writing Stronger, More Realistic Characters
Why There's No Such Thing as "Just a Story"
Antagonists
Let Your Villains Take the Lead
There is No Bad Guy: What to do when your Antagonist isn't a Villain
The Four Main Types of Epic Antagonists
Negative Trait Thesaurus
10 Traits of a Strong Antagonist
Qualities of a Great Nemesis #1: Power
Writing Unlikeable Characters Readers Will Root For
Negative Trait Thesaurus
10 Traits of a Strong Antagonist
Qualities of a Great Nemesis #1: Power
Writing Unlikeable Characters Readers Will Root For
Plotting
Janice Hardy on plotting
The Plot Clock: The Structure Template that Saved My Career
Plotting with Michael Hague's Six Stage Plot Structure
How to Tell if Your Story Has Too Much Plot, Not Enough Character
Why Your Plot isn't Working
Story Structure: The 5 Key Turning Points of All Stories
Novel Outline Template
Kishotenketsu for Beginners: An Introduction to Four Act Structure
Me or You? Choosing Between First and Third Point of View
Want to Evoke Emotions in Readers?
Everything You Need To Know About Writing a Third Person POV
How to Use Close Third-Person to Get Closer to Your Characters
How to Write a Novel with Multiple Points of View
Writing Multiple Points of View
5 Questions About How to Balance Multiple POVs in Your Story
How to Write a Novel with Multiple Points of View
How to Write Multiple POVs the 'Game of Thrones' Way
Make Your Novel's Opening Pop
How to Use the Inciting Incident to Rescue the Beginning of Your Screenplay or Novel
4 Steps to Establish the Beginning of Your Novel
Everything You Need to Know About Inciting Incidents
The Plot Clock: The Structure Template that Saved My Career
Plotting with Michael Hague's Six Stage Plot Structure
How to Tell if Your Story Has Too Much Plot, Not Enough Character
Why Your Plot isn't Working
Story Structure: The 5 Key Turning Points of All Stories
Novel Outline Template
Kishotenketsu for Beginners: An Introduction to Four Act Structure
Planning Your Novel
Writing Insights Part Two: The Rough Draft
Start Your Outline with These Four Questions
My 20 Step Plan to Writing a Book Part 1 (Steps 1-10)
So, You Want to Write a Series
25 Steps to Being a Traditionally Published Author
How to Outline a Novel
Worksheets for Writers
Premise Palooza! Generating Great Story Ideas
Gripping Stories: How to Write Them
Start Your Outline with These Four Questions
My 20 Step Plan to Writing a Book Part 1 (Steps 1-10)
So, You Want to Write a Series
25 Steps to Being a Traditionally Published Author
How to Outline a Novel
Worksheets for Writers
Premise Palooza! Generating Great Story Ideas
Gripping Stories: How to Write Them
Three Key Elements to a Successful Story
Sentence Flow: Fixing Choppy Writing
Top 3 Tools for Writing Fast (video with Jesse Q. Sutanto)
Drafting
Sentence Flow: Fixing Choppy Writing
Top 3 Tools for Writing Fast (video with Jesse Q. Sutanto)
Pacing
How Pacing Helps Readers Care about Our Characters
7 Tools for Pacing a Novel & Keeping Your Novel Moving at the Right Pace
7 Quick Tips for Mastering Pacing in Your Story
7 Tools for Pacing a Novel & Keeping Your Novel Moving at the Right Pace
7 Quick Tips for Mastering Pacing in Your Story
Worksheets
Show, Don't Tell
POV
Me or You? Choosing Between First and Third Point of View
Want to Evoke Emotions in Readers?
Everything You Need To Know About Writing a Third Person POV
How to Use Close Third-Person to Get Closer to Your Characters
How to Write a Novel with Multiple Points of View
Writing Multiple Points of View
5 Questions About How to Balance Multiple POVs in Your Story
How to Write a Novel with Multiple Points of View
How to Write Multiple POVs the 'Game of Thrones' Way
Voice
What is the Writer's Voice? How Do You Find Your Writing Voice?
From the Editor's Desk: More Tips on Finding Your Voice
Voice: A #DVpit Blog Hop Roundtable Discussion: Part 1
Voice: Writing Words that Sing
Voice: A #DVpit Blog Hop Roundtable Discussion: Part 1
Voice: Writing Words that Sing
Sequels
5 Rules for How to Write a Sequel for your Book
Storytelling
TED: Clues to a Great Story: Andrew Stanton
How to Use Foreshadowing
How to Raise the Stakes in Your Novel
The 10-Step Checklist to Writing and Above Average Novel
The Efficient Author's Cheat Sheet for Creating Suspense and Tension
An Easy Tip for Tightening Your Novel's Plot
Psst! Novelists - Steal These Screenwriting Secrets!
How to Know Which Parts of Your Story Readers will Like Best (It Isn't Always What You Think)
5 Ways Writers (Try to) FakeTheir Way to Good Storytelling
No Story Conflict? Explore Your Options
How to Use Foreshadowing
How to Raise the Stakes in Your Novel
The 10-Step Checklist to Writing and Above Average Novel
The Efficient Author's Cheat Sheet for Creating Suspense and Tension
An Easy Tip for Tightening Your Novel's Plot
Psst! Novelists - Steal These Screenwriting Secrets!
How to Know Which Parts of Your Story Readers will Like Best (It Isn't Always What You Think)
5 Ways Writers (Try to) FakeTheir Way to Good Storytelling
No Story Conflict? Explore Your Options
Action Scenes
How to Choreograph a Great Action Scene
Blow-by-Blow: Writing Action and Fight Scenes - 5 Tips
Beginnings
How to Use the Inciting Incident to Rescue the Beginning of Your Screenplay or Novel
4 Steps to Establish the Beginning of Your Novel
Everything You Need to Know About Inciting Incidents
Chapters
How to Organize a Chapter
Endings
How to Structure a Killer Novel Ending
Scared of the Anticlimactic Ending? Here's How to Kick it to the Curb
Great Endings #9: Does Your Screenplay Have a Bow and Arrow Moment?
Great Endings #9: Does Your Screenplay Have a Bow and Arrow Moment?
Scenes
10 Ways to Launch Strong Scenes
Writing the Perfect Scene
Craft: Proactive and Reactive Scenes
8 Steps for Writing the Perfect Scene Every Time
Advanced Scene Technique: The Jump Cut
Writing Tip: Make Sure Your Scene Endings Hook Your Readers
Motivation-Reaction Units: Cracking the Code to Good Writing
3 Keys to Writing Effective Action Scenes
5 Tips When You're Stuck in a Scene
How to Write Interesting Scenes
Novel Scene Description
Rule of Threes: No, the Other One
Brick by Brick: How to Build a Scene from the Ground Up
How to Build a Scene
Scene Layering with Examples
The 3-Minute Scene Fix
Craft: Proactive and Reactive Scenes
8 Steps for Writing the Perfect Scene Every Time
Advanced Scene Technique: The Jump Cut
Writing Tip: Make Sure Your Scene Endings Hook Your Readers
Motivation-Reaction Units: Cracking the Code to Good Writing
3 Keys to Writing Effective Action Scenes
5 Tips When You're Stuck in a Scene
How to Write Interesting Scenes
Novel Scene Description
Rule of Threes: No, the Other One
Brick by Brick: How to Build a Scene from the Ground Up
How to Build a Scene
Scene Layering with Examples
The 3-Minute Scene Fix
Don't Build Scenes Around the Information You Think You Need to Impart
Try to Get Your Scenes to Do More Than One Thing
How to Write Emotional Scenes (Without Making them Cringey)
Don't Dribble Out Morsels of Information Within a Scene
Dialogue
10 Dos and Don'ts for Writing Realistic Dialogue
9 Rules for Writing Dialogue
Use Speaker Tags and Beats Correctly
Writing Great Dialogue: Create Power Moments Rich in Subtext
Use Speaker Tags and Beats Correctly
Writing Great Dialogue: Create Power Moments Rich in Subtext
World Building
5 Tips for Writing about Fictional Technology
Technology in World Building
The Where of it All: Place and Story, a guest post by Kathi Appelt
The 7 Deadly Sins of World Building
How Do You Describe a Place? 6 Setting Tips
World Building: Your Story World's History 101
How to Write Description Without Going Overboard
This is How to Transform Info Dumps into Exciting Plot Reveals
The Where of it All: Place and Story, a guest post by Kathi Appelt
The 7 Deadly Sins of World Building
How Do You Describe a Place? 6 Setting Tips
World Building: Your Story World's History 101
How to Write Description Without Going Overboard
This is How to Transform Info Dumps into Exciting Plot Reveals
How to Write Historical Fiction
Avoiding Pitfalls
General Writing
Themes
How to Write Unique Themes
Use Theme to Determine Subplots, Supporting Characters, and Tension
How to Find Your Thematic Principle
What is the Relationship Between Plot and Theme?
5 Ways to Use Theme to Create Character Arc (and Vice Versa)
Story Rulez: Two Things Every Novel Needs to Do
Use Theme to Determine Subplots, Supporting Characters, and Tension
How to Find Your Thematic Principle
What is the Relationship Between Plot and Theme?
5 Ways to Use Theme to Create Character Arc (and Vice Versa)
Story Rulez: Two Things Every Novel Needs to Do
General Advice/ Inspiration
10 Universal Writing Rules from the Onion's Founding Editor
Agent Kathleen Rushall's List of Kid Lit Resources
4 Ways to Write a Better Novel
10 1/2 Commandments of Writing
Publishing Resources
Huge List of Children's Publishers
The Book SCBWI's guide to publishers, agents, magazines, and more
Writing How-To's (Books and other Writing Guides)
Cybils Literary Awards CYBILS – Children’s and Young Adult Bloggers’ Literary Awards
The Book SCBWI's guide to publishers, agents, magazines, and more
Writing How-To's (Books and other Writing Guides)
Top Children's Books
Cybils Literary Awards CYBILS – Children’s and Young Adult Bloggers’ Literary Awards
All The Wonders- author interviews with Matthew Winner