Tag: for writers
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Yours Truly rocks the Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers podcast
True story: at the RMFW conference this year, I bumped into my good friend Mark Stevens, an award-winning author and host of the Rocky Mountain Writer podcast. Somehow, we got to talking about weird musical instruments. I’ve just started playing one of the weirdest of all, the theremin. It’s the original electronic instrument, one that…
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Learn All of My Writing Secrets at Colorado Gold
Are you going to the RMFW Colorado Gold 2018 conference? Don’t miss this chance to pick my brain about all things related to urban fantasy, writing action scenes, and creating monsters. Here’s where you can find me: Birds of a Feather: Urban Fantasy panel Saturday 10am | Winter Park What exactly is urban fantasy? What…
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Create Better Characters in 6 Easy Steps
Readers may be intrigued by a good plot. But if your characters are interesting, readers will remember them long after they close the book. It can be tough to create fully fleshed-out, three-dimensional characters. I explain how to do it over at the Rocky Mountain Fiction Writers blog. P.S. Get more free writing tips when…
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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 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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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…
LAURENCE MACNAUGHTON 