Before I get into strategies for writing a prologue, I want to address the whole prologue thing. Basically, agents like them or hate them. Readers love them or skip them. People have strong feelings about prologues and you should be aware of the general discussion before you publish a book with one or start sending out queries. So, let’s talk briefly about why some agents don’t like them and why a...

If you plan on traditionally publishing your novel, you will need several other materials in addition to your  novel when starting to query.  One of those items is a synopsis.  What exactly is a synopsis, why is it an important marketing item, and how can you make yours the best it can be? Let’s dive in! What is a synopsis? A synopsis is an overview of your novel from beginning...

“You’ve got two seconds to explain yourself,” were words I heard often growing up. It was a rhetorical statement; my parents knew I couldn’t justify why I broke curfew or received another poor algebra test score, but I’d tackle the challenge regardless. And while I was never able to plead my case, my years of millisecond persuasion did help in developing the skills to write microfiction.  Microfiction, also known as...

I started my true writing journey eight years ago. I’d been writing stories for most of my life at that point, but I didn’t set out to write an entire novel until then. What I didn’t realize was that writing a novel is more complicated than it looks, and I’ve learned crucial lessons through the process of failing to produce one. My biggest mistake was beginning with a number of...

After all the Pinterest boards, Spotify playlists, and months (cough years) of writing (and procrastinating), you finally finished the first draft of your novel. Hooray! If you’re anything like me, once the celebration fades, anticipation quickly sets in. Revisions. Yes. That’s the logical next step! You print your manuscript, buy all the flair pens and neon Post-it flags, only to realize you have no idea how to traverse these strange new...

A farmhouse, a beach, the principal’s office, church. These are the kinds of places we think about when we think about setting. We choose a location for our scene and then we contemplate what sensory details we might incorporate to describe it. We consider the lighting, the weather, the color of the furniture. But most of the time we don’t consider deeply enough. Setting is not just a place in...

Some of the writers’ sites you’ve seen on the Internet include writing exercises. Most of these look pretty silly to you–“Pretend you’re a duck” and so forth. What’s the rationale behind them? Some writers are blessed with immediate expertise and a never-ending supply of creative energy. Most of us, however, are not. Most of us become writers through patience and practice, and writing exercises are, for many, a favorite form...

We’ve all had those moments when pure inspiration strikes. An amazing new idea for a story crystallizes in your mind. You know you’re a genius, maybe even the best writer who’s ever lived. You prepare your writing tools and sit down ready to write the world’s next mega-bestselling novel. And you’ve got nothing. The empty page mocks you with its emptiness, and you have no idea where to start. Whether...