by Ali | May 9, 2024 | Motivation
How to Write When … You Can’t Seem to Get Started This post is part of my ongoing “How to Write When…” series. Getting started is, for many of us, the hardest part of writing. Beginning a big project like a novel can be so daunting that writers put it off for...
by Ali | May 2, 2024 | Fiction
How Much Should You Plan Before Starting a Novel? This post was first published in October 2012 and updated in May 2024. Thinking of writing a novel? You might be wondering about how best to plan it … but before you figure that out, you need to decide how much...
by Ali | Apr 26, 2024 | Fiction
Understanding the “Show Don’t Tell” Rule (With Examples … And Exceptions) This post was first published in February 2012 and extensively updated in April 2024. One of the most common pieces of writing advice is show, don’t tell. It’s a neat little phrase. But...
by Ali | Apr 18, 2024 | Editing
Five Tips to Help You Rewrite Your Story After Beta Reader or Editor Feedback When you get feedback from your beta reader(s) or from your editor, chances are, you’ll have some mixed emotions. Before you even open their email, you might be feeling excited, but also...
by Ali | Apr 12, 2024 | Fiction
What Comes Before and After Your Story? Character Backstory and Living Happily Ever After The stories that stick with me are ones where the characters feel like real people, with lives before the story begins … and lives that continue after the final page. These...
