How to Format a Novel (or other fictional work) for Submission
Over the last couple days, I’ve answered a lot of young writers’ questions about how submission guidelines work both for Wild Blue Wonder Press, and at my day job at the Author Conservatory (where we do critiques as well as put together anthologies, necessitating submission guidelines). And one of the biggest questions is about formatting […]
How to Punctuate Dialogue for Beginners (and people like me who never paid attention)
There are punctuation rules you might not have run across in your essay writing – or at least you didn’t probably run into it often. If you read a lot, you’ve seen it … but do you remember? I had to learn how to punctuate dialogue after I started writing, and it wasn’t necessarily the […]
How Much Does Self-Publishing Cost?
I’m a proud self-published author and will probably continue to be for the rest of my life! I love the control it gives me over every element of my book—from final decisions about plot and characters to editing. But with great power comes great responsibility! You’re taking everything on your shoulders with self-publishing—from the editing […]
Does Your Novel Deserve a Sequel?
Does your novel deserve a sequel? That’s a tough question to answer. As fiction writers, I think we’d most often like the answer to be: “Yes!” It’s hard to let go of characters and plots and worlds we adore. However – surprise, surprise – not all novels need a sequel. In fact, some of them […]
When Your Writing Just Isn’t Enough
Sometimes I think that writers have the lowest self-esteem of any creature on this planet. We constantly judge ourselves. We second-guess word choices, plot lines, even calling ourselves a writer. We can’t even tell others about our stories without blushing! Now, to a certain extent, it’s natural to worry about our creations like this. I […]
The Dos and Don’ts of Naming Characters
We’ve all struggled with it. Character naming. There’s nothing quite so tortuous as this monster (except perhaps book-titling, but that’s not what we’re talking about today). You want your character to have the perfect, original pre nomen to go with their perfect, original personality … but what is that? Now, since this is obviously […]
10 Tips for Surviving Camp NaNoWriMo
Camp NaNoWriMo (at least April Camp NaNoWriMo) is even crazier than actual NaNoWriMo. You know why? Because NaNoWriMo is in November. Soccer is over, school is dragging, it isn’t Christmas yet, and you’re just trudging through life like a tree. (What? I stand by that metaphor …) You want something exciting to happen, and if it’s anything, […]
How to Use Pinterest as an Author
Pinterest is one of those things that most people have … but very few people use. Sure, you dink around on it for an average of ten hours a day and now you feel like you’re attached to your account at the waist (you laughed, you cried, you smiled … you don’t take that kind of relationship lightly). But […]
Guest Post: Five Secrets to Writing Fantasy
Hi, guys! Today I’m going to be hosting another guest post. I’m really excited to introduce Sarah of Riding for Jesus with her guest post, “Five Secrets to Writing Fantasy.” Hello everyone! I’m Sarah, and today Kellyn is letting me do a guest post on … FIVE SECRETS OF WRITING FANTASY! I love to write fantasy. It […]
To Middle (To Write or Not To Write, #1)
Today I will have a few tips on writing a middle. I was inspired by Liv (who suggested this post) and Cora, who started the blog tag To Write or Not to Write and nominated me. To find out more about that, go here. I’m calling this the first, as it is the first on Reveries, […]
How to Start a Novel
Now, I’ve never really had problems with starting novels. Finishing them, yes, definitely. Starting them … not so much. It’s actually one of my worst habits, novel-starting. But a friend of mine asked me to write a post on starting novels … so here I am. I talked about this a little in my post […]
How to Avoid the Nightmares of Editing
If you think I’m about to tell you how NOT to edit, you’re wrong. I’m just going to tell you how to edit without pain. What? you say. That’s impossible! The definition of editing is ‘a painful process by which authors attempt to improve their books.’ That’s not true! Editing doesn’t have to be awful! Of […]
