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Blog

Layering Is The Secret To Crafting A Stronger Plot

February 20, 2019 by Paige Duke Leave a Comment

Layering Is The Secret To Crafting A Stronger Plot

Do you love a good subplot? I confess, I love a story with complex subplots and a big cast. I get a little thrill every time two characters meet for the first time. And I love getting to see how people and places are interconnected in ways the characters don’t realize. It’s a god-like perspective we humans aren’t granted in our earthly existence. Strong subplots are a hallmark of sophisticated …

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Filed Under: Writing Tagged With: Characters, Editing, Plot, World building, Writing tools

11 Ways Stan Lee Can Help You Improve Your Writing Right Now

February 18, 2019 by Robert Wood Leave a Comment

11 Ways Stan Lee Can Help You Improve Your Writing Right Now

Stan Lee may not be the first person on your list when you seek out the advice of great writers, but maybe he should be. Lee is most famous as a writer of graphic novels and as the co-creator of Marvel Comics characters who still command the zeitgeist to this day, including Spider-Man, the X-Men, Iron Man, the Hulk, Black Panther, and many more. Lee began his professional life refilling inkwells …

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Filed Under: Marketing, Publishing, Writing Tagged With: Advertising, Book marketing, Inspiration, Money, Productivity, Short stories, Social media

Is Parallelism What Your Story’s Missing?

February 13, 2019 by Rebecca Langley Leave a Comment

Is Parallelism What Your Story’s Missing?

Parallelism is a useful tool for enhancing syntax and even improving your story’s overall structure, but that doesn’t mean it’s always easy to use. In its most basic form, parallelism means using successive linguistic constructs that corresponded in terms of meter, meaning, grammatical structure, or sound. The intent is to add balance and rhythm to sentences, giving them a flow that can make them …

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Filed Under: Writing Tagged With: Characters, Dialogue, Editing, Poetry

Why Do Boring Scenes Start With “Hello”?

February 11, 2019 by Robert Wood Leave a Comment

Why Do Boring Scenes Start With “Hello”?

Hello, reader. How have you been? Ah, good. Yeah, I’ve been great. Anyway, in this article we’ll be discussing why boring scenes start with one character greeting another. Whether ‘hey’, ‘hi’, or ‘salut’, looking out for greetings can be a great way to detect that your dialogue isn’t quite ready for print. Here’s why. Hello Operator In real life, it’s likely that whatever you’re talking about, …

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Filed Under: Writing Tagged With: Dialogue, Editing

How To Consult Experts When Researching Your Book

February 6, 2019 by Fred Johnson Leave a Comment

How To Consult Experts When Researching Your Book

Imagination is a vital tool for writers looking to produce an interesting and convincing book, but it’ll only take you so far. In addition to straight-up nonfiction, there are multiple genres of fiction that need more from their author than just a vivid imagination: historical fiction, for example, or true crime, science fiction, contemporary, etc. all require research. Sometimes, that means …

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Filed Under: Writing Tagged With: Alpha readers, Beta readers, Inspiration, Realism, Research, Story settings, World building

Why You Need To Consider Register In Your Writing

February 4, 2019 by Rebecca Langley Leave a Comment

Why You Need To Consider Register In Your Writing

Most of us are familiar with register, even if we haven’t called it by that name. It’s a term that refers to the formality of language, and it’s easily recognizable in the difference between a cover letter for a resume and the email you send your best friend. The ability to vary your register isn’t only important when e-meeting a new client or texting your significant other. It can make or break …

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Filed Under: Marketing, Publishing, Writing Tagged With: Advertising, Author blogs, Author websites, Blogging, Book marketing, Dialogue, Editing, Email lists, Press release, Social media

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