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Gathering Research Bits While The Roman Heir is in editing process, I’m scouring for ideas for the next several stories. Never forgetting setting, I’m looking at meadows and woods for The Vellum Scribe. The Vellum Scribe A monkish scribe. A gored noble. A tantalizing daughter.Argolicus unravels the threads. When Argolicus’ pious uncle arrives to complete…
Image by Alayna at Deviant Art Formative Ideas Behind the Author Every author draws from personal history when creating characters. The main character, the protagonist, along with the antagonist derive from your experience to emerge as rich, engaging people in your story. Behind the list of characteristics, flaws and shortcomings, physical makeup, and the like,…
Tips to overcome writer fear to get back to your story.
First, find out what your hero wants, then just follow him!– Ray Bradbury The Writer’s Surprise Gift Writer’s know when they are in the zone and the story flows. If you use an outline to hit the main beats of your story, you’ll know what you want to accomplish in the scene.Your characters may be…
Choose Your Challenge Writers come up with many ways to establish the characters in their stories, especially the main character: character interviews, worst fear, early childhood, habits good and bad, etc. What readers want is action.The easiest way to reconcile your wealth of knowledge about your character and engaging readers in the story is…
The Secret Sauce of Fellow Writers Fellow writers provide a rich source of knowledge. You can use this knowledge to expand yours. From writing groups to indie author idea exchanges you can build your personal knowledge base on writing and publishing skills. New writers, especially, can fall into the trap of spending hundreds and sometimes…
Domestic Details Setting is important in any story. In historical novels, setting details give the reader a sense of what is around the characters. Without setting the characters are “floating in space” with nothing to ground them to surroundings. In the video of the mosaic discovery, the details of vibrancy and varied images are a…
L—d! said my mother, what is all this story about? The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman Laurence Sterne When readers begin your story, they want to know certain elements, and very soon. Gone are the days when the scenic, lingering beginning of Thomas Hardy’s The Return of the Native will draw in a…
Start Your Launch Plan Early Don’t wait until you novel is finished before starting to plan your book launch. A successful book launch contains many activities, and they need to be planned well in advance. New novelists need to start planning when they are about half-way through the story. Yep, the mid-point of your story…
Thank you to all The Used Virgin readers This morning I woke up to this notice in my email. I was surprised and thrilled. What a great way to begin Spring. I am especially grateful to readers because the book reached this level without advertising. That means, you, the reader, found it on Amazon and…
