First Author Interview My first author interview. I am excited. Thanks so much to fellow author Katherine Hayton for inviting me to interview for her website. Enjoy the interview. If you have any questions, get in touch zara@zaraaltair.com. I love talking with readers and other authors. Zara Altair – The Used VirginPlease tell us a bit about…
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…
Creativity is risk.Tips to overcome fear for writers. How to acknowledge your writing fears and steps to take to keep writing.
Research is Background, Not the Story Historical research, especially for a time when not much original material from the period survives, can be daunting. At any given time my desktop may be covered with notebooks, maps, and reference books. Or I may be looking at a collection of photos I took at the Domus dei…
The six basic scene components and how they help you create a tight, focused scene for your novel.
From Story Idea to Story Summary Once you create your one-sentence story idea, build out to a summary paragraph to include characters, main story points, and the climax. Expanding your story idea builds your story writing momentum. Years ago Randy Ingermanson proposed a way to summarize your story highlighting the important pivots: three disasters plus…
