Tag: how to write a novel
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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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The Simple Secret to Fixing Ugly Story Problems
It happens to every writer: you’re writing along when suddenly you need to go back and change some fact or detail. Because if you don’t fix it, the story won’t make sense. Should you stop writing at that moment to go fix it? Nope. That could kill your momentum. Here’s a better idea. It’s called…
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How to Plan and Write A Novel
I’m often asked what my writing process looks like. How do I write a book? It’s pretty simple, actually. (Not easy. But simple.) First, I start with the basics: Who are the good guys? What are they trying to do? And, especially, why? Who are the bad guys? Where does this take place? Then I…
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How to Make Writing Your Career: Word Cafe Interview with Yours Truly
Hey, this is cool. Join me over at Word Cafe for an interview where I reveal everything I know about: • Building a full-time career around writing, as a novelist and a copywriter — and what a copywriter does, exactly. • How my first book from a New York publisher actually started out as a…
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What an Editor Really Does — and Why You Need One
I first met Anita when she worked with my literary agent, Kristin Nelson. Anita is a freelance editor who helps writers bring out the very best in their novels. She was kind enough to share her editing insights, including why you should never let a rejection letter get you down, and why joining a critique…
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I Should Be Writing podcast with Yours Truly
Attention writers: You’re missing out. If you aren’t already listening to Mur Lafferty’s, “I Should Be Writing: The Podcast for Wannabe Fiction Writers,” you need to drop what you’re doing and go listen. In every episode, Mur talks about the writing process, problems every writer faces, and how to solve them. The unstoppable Mur was gracious enough…
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How do I get inspired to write?
Everyone has a unique way of getting inspired. I spark ideas by doing tons of research. The world we live in is so weird, it’s impossible not to get inspired. Before I wrote about the crystal magic in IT HAPPENED ONE DOOMSDAY, I went to plenty of lapidaries (rock shops), which are all over the…
LAURENCE MACNAUGHTON 