Category: For Writers
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4 Mistakes to Avoid When Building Suspense in Your Novel
Have you ever read a book that you just couldn’t put down? The whole time you were turning pages, you were probably desperate to discover the answer to a burning question. That’s the essence of suspense, and it makes readers devour your book. So how do you build suspense in your novel? Start by avoiding…
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How to Write Kick-Ass Action Scenes (Part 2)
Believe it or not, it’s easy to write gripping action scenes—if you know how. In Part 1 of this article, I showed you how to break down complicated action scenes into their component parts: location, characters, goals, and actions. Now I’ll show you the real secret to wrapping up any action scene with an unforgettable bang.…
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How to Write a Novel This Year: 10 Free How-To Articles
Something like 92% of all New Year’s resolutions are doomed to failure. If one of your goals is to write a novel this year, don’t let yourself become a statistic. Find out the answers to your questions and learn how to write your book. Since I joined the powerhouse faculty at Janice Hardy’s Fiction University,…
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Create the Perfect Villain: a 6-Step Master Plan
In my last article on Fiction University, I laid out 6 Ways to Make Readers Fall in Love With Your Characters. If you’re writing a story or novel, pay attention. Because now I’m going to flip all of those techniques upside down. I’ll show you how to use the opposite of those exact same methods…
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Is Canva the Betty Crocker of Book Covers?
If you’re an author, what’s the easiest way to make a decent book cover? Unless a publisher is creating the book cover for you, you can expect to spend anywhere from $100 to $1,000 hiring a designer. So when Canva comes along and offers ready-to-use book cover templates — for free — it makes you…
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6 Easy Steps to Writing Unforgettable Characters
Every writer knows that creating interesting characters is one of the toughest parts of the job. I don’t feel like an expert on characters by any means, but RT Book Reviews said this about my latest book: “MacNaughton has a real gift for developing quirky and crazy characters.” Nice to hear, but I’ll tell you:…
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New Author Interview on Blog Talk Radio
The Daily Author turned out to be one of my favorite live interviews ever. Richard and I got into some pretty in-depth discussions about: • What it takes to overcome creative anxiety • Connecting with your creative support network • The importance of knowing good advice from bad • Independent vs. traditional publishing – there…
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Storytelling Made Easy (Even If You’re Not a Writer)
If you think about it, storytelling is a skill we all use every day. We tell stories at the water cooler, in meeting rooms, in social media, and around the dinner table. Knowing how to tell a great story helps you communicate, do better in business, and be more fun at parties. Think you’re no…
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How to Get the Book Cover You Really Want
I don’t know about other authors, but for me the moment when a book becomes “real” (and not just a story floating around in my imagination) is when I see the artwork for the book cover. Ever wondered what the book cover process looks like from the author’s perspective? It starts with cover concepts from…
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Electric Spec Interview on Writing Short Fiction
It was a real honor to have the chance to sit down and talk with Electric Spec about what makes short stories so relevant today. As writers, short stories give us the opportunity to connect with readers in ways that novels don’t. Besides, talking about how to write short stories is just plain fun. Also,…
LAURENCE MACNAUGHTON 