Writing the first chapter is equivalent to a first date. First impressions are everything and you, the writer, are subject to some intense scrutiny. But how do you know if you’re dotting all your i’s and crossing all your t’s?
Chapter one will make or break our book. If we get it wrong, the first chapter might be the only chapter of our book anyone reads. Here’s a guide for what to include in your first chapter.
Are your sentences overly long and confusing? In this post, I’m going to share 6 ways to improve your writing.
Long sentences can be dangerous. When our sentences are too long, we tend to lapse into the passive voice and we risk making tense and punctuation mistakes.
Run-on sentences also distract the writer and the reader. We tend to veer off course and forget the purpose of our communications. They also force the reader to work harder.
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REMEMBER SHADOW OF THE WICKED is available on Amazon. Read the FREE preview below and get your copy today!
Now that Shadow Of The Wicked is complete, I have been working with my editor for my next novel, To Wield The Stars (if you remember me talking about it) to be published by OMAMPublishing. But while I was waiting, I have had the feeling to fall back into the Three Kingdoms (Shadow Of The Wicked) world and do a full featured novel and possibly series to explain a lot of the lore and history.
So on my on Instagram I posted that I have started that series. I’m not sure what the title will be but I have a grand plan for it to be epic and grim. However, writing the first draft has always been the most daunting part of writing a novel for me.
(more…)If you haven’t been following my blog, a few posts ago I mentioned my blog series focusing on character development for your novel.
If you missed the previous posts, you can find click on them here –
Backstory and Motivations
Below is the next post for my blog series on character development, ‘FiveWays to Improve your Character’s Voice and Dialogue.‘
Each chapter has a beginning-middle-end, and a focused purpose. A purpose that you as the author should be able to state clearly.
I recently wrote a post, Five Ways to Start a Chapter/Scene but now I will be looking at how to end a chapter/ scene.
There is a natural flow of a chapter, as a reader, you know this instinctively. You can feel when the chapter is about to be over. The chapter begins with an action or forward motion of some kind. Then the action or tension increases, then something is accomplished or resolved—and then something new begins.
But how do you end it in a way that’s compelling and irresistible to continue reading?
This idea came to me yesterday at school, (I teach children with autism in high school), and the mainstream school organised an event, Write A Novel In A Day. From 8am to 8pm, in groups, the students would write, edit and illustrate a novel in 12 hours. In between classes, I was checking their progress and observing the workmanship of students between grade 7-9 (age 13-15).
At times, writing a novel can be overwhelming and sometimes taking on such a large task will let the writer’s block get the better of you. But when you get down to it, those steps are a lot simpler than you might expect and you can finish a novel like those students.
In this post, I created five steps to help you write your novel.
As some followers might be aware, I am at the editing stage of my first novel. It is taking me a vast amount of time as :
These are not excuses but scheduling editing around my lifestyle is tough and allows for little time at night and weekends.
For people that have stumbled upon my blog, there is a common theme with my posts: the stage of my editing process for my novel.
Four steps to structure a novel series.
First things first: before you do anything else, you need to decide if a series is the right choice for the story you want to tell. There’s no point setting out to write a series just for the sake of it; it needs to be the right vessel to deliver your particular tale.
If you don’t intend to write a series, that’s fine but there are some points you can apply to stand alone novels.
National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) April 2018 is here!
For those who are unaware of this concept,
Camp NaNoWriMo is a virtual writer’s retreat, designed for maximum flexibility and creativity. (more…)
The earth has made one full revolution around the sun since I began my journey on WordPress. I am overwhelmed by the amount of followers that are curious and daring enough to follow my journey and exchange thoughts and ideas.
An enormous thank you to the authors and writers that contribute each week to my discussions.
I learnt a lot in the last year. The moment I stepped onto the virtual world is when I let my comfort zone disappear into abyss of consciousness.
#DWTSmith #forgottencomfortzone
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