Rachelle M.N. Shaw's Blog: From Mind to Paper: On Writing and Editing

10 Things 2018 Taught Me About Writing

It’s about that time again: Another year has passed—another opportunity to grow and learn who I am as a writer. In many ways, 2018 was my most challenging year yet. I didn’t meet most of my goals, I had unexpected health issues, and I had to step outside my comfort zone on multiple occasions. However, it was also a vastly rewarding year. Amazing new opportunities fell into my lap, I attended a fabulous writing conference, and I was reminded yet again why I love writing so much.

Writing is a t...

WDC Series: Villains with Positive Character Arcs

Ah, villains. Quite possibly my favorite characters of all time. They’re swift talkers, fast thinkers, and they earn the best internet memes. Everyone knows who they are. But what really makes these characters special for me is they tend to be complex, holding a depth that protagonists and other supporting characters sometimes lack. (Don’t throw things at me yet—I did say sometimes.)

Truth be told, stellar characters need complexity no matter whose side they’re on. Authenticity, depth, a clea...

Eep! The Emotion Thesaurus 2.0

Hi everyone! I’m so excited to share this with you. I've been helping Angela and Becca at Writers Helping Writers keep a BIG secret: what the next book in their thesaurus series will be.

It might seem strange for an author to not tell their readers about the book they plan to release . . . unless your names are Becca and Angela. They are known for writing books on showing, not telling, and couldn't pass up a chance to do just that by waiting for the cover reveal. And it’s a huge honor to be pa...

First Line Feedback on Tumblr

Want some input on the first line of your book to see how compelling it is? Join myself and fellow author Kira Martin on her blog as she hosts First Sentence Friday. Anyone is welcome to submit! https://kiramartinauthor.tumblr.com/post/181879593791/rachelle-shaw-an

WDC Series: Unlikable Characters (That Readers Still Relate To)

There’s something extraordinarily compelling about following the life of an antagonist, one that really drives readers to find out what makes villains tick.

But there’s a trick to writing a character like that, especially if you’re using them as your main character. They may be unlikable, but they still have to be relatable. If they’re not, readers won’t give a darn what happens to them, and they’ll stop reading long before any character development takes place. So how can you ensure relatabi...

Ten Things 2017 Taught Me About Writing

Short stories have unlimited potential and are worth their weight in gold. Not only do they spark ideas for novels, but they’re also great for promoting your other work. They’re a way to keep giving readers new content more quickly, buying you extra time to complete larger projects. During the past two years, I took that approach to a whole new level, and I fell in love with writing short stories so much that I became a dedicated serial writer.Rejections can be the start of a new beginning. O...

WDC Series: Developing Supporting Characters

What’s worse than a flat main character? A hoard of underdeveloped supporting characters, for one. In my years as an editor, I’ve seen a great share of new fiction writers fall victim to that flaw, sometimes without even knowing it. In fact, even if you’re a seasoned writer, this fatal shortcoming can still rear its ugly head from time to time.

But why does it happen? What makes supporting characters so difficult to write? I like to place the blame on those needy main characters and their ten...

Trick-Or-Treat Reads 2017

Patricia Lynne, a fellow YA author, graciously invited me to participate in her awesome annual Trick-Or-Treat Reads event again this year, and I'm excited to announce what I have in store.

What is Trick-Or-Treat Reads?

Authors who signed up for the event unite to celebrate Halloween by offering up their books for free today to anyone who wants to score extra reads at a great price. All readers have to do is hop from blog to blog in search of links to the free books from each participating auth...

Not Your Typical NaNoWriMo Writer

That dreaded time is almost upon us, and many of us who are participating in NaNoWriMo this year are either lying on the floor twitching or feverishly scribbling our outlines for the event.

For those of you who aren't familiar with it, NaNoWriMo is a month-long commitment that many writers make each year to hammer out a 50,000-word novel or longer during the month of November. For the past two years, I've participated in the event, but I'm not exactly your typical NaNoWriMo writer. For one, m...

WDC Series: 5 Tips for Avoiding Stereotypes and Cookie-Cutter Characters

If you’ve ever read a review that criticized a book for having stereotypical characters or ones that lacked depth, you know just how much it likely affected the reader’s rating and overall enjoyment of it. Flat characters are hard to relate to, and they can take even the most extraordinary plot and transform it into a cure for insomnia. No one wants to read (or write) a book like that, yet there continues to be an influx of published works that receive that very critique. So how can you, as...