Rachelle M.N. Shaw's Blog: From Mind to Paper: On Writing and Editing, page 2

How to Use Showing vs. Telling Effectively

There are tons of writing blogs and articles out there that offer advice on showing vs. telling. But why is that?

Why is showing so important that it automatically trumps telling? Is it ever okay to use telling? The secret is actually in the combination of the two. When you know how you can use showing in conjunction with telling, you can strengthen your writing and sharpen the structure of your pieces.

If you struggle with showing vs. telling at all, check out my guest blog over on the 10 M...

To the Mothers of Autistic Children

Autism. With just one word, your life can be forever changed.

Today, I'm taking a break from my usual posts on writing to recognize Mother's Day. For each and every mother out there, whether you're a mother-to-be, a foster mother, a mother who adopted, or you gave birth to your own children, you deserve recognition. You are amazing women that have been through the ups and downs of parenthood, and you've experienced the joys that come with it. Each milestone makes you feel like the proudest mo...

WDC Series: 5 Tips for Introducing New Characters

Characters are the life of the party. Their individual quirks can completely turn the plot on its head and send the story spiraling in a new direction. As a writer, I love incorporating new characters, because I see it as an opportunity for plot twists, growth, and complexity in books. But as a reader, I know how disappointing the story can be if the characters are not written well. You want their introduction to feel natural while providing enough information to give you an accurate taste of...

Writing Dynamic Characters (WDC): An Introduction to the Series

Time to kick things off about characters! Over the next several months, I’ll be talking about everything it takes to create realistic, dynamic, and well-developed characters. For instance, how do you transform a stereotypical character with a vague archetype into a unique and utterly compelling persona that readers can’t get enough of?

I have loads of other topics planned too, but here are a few of the main ones:

how to write character flawswriting unlikable characters that readers can still r...

Developing a Supernatural Edge: Building a Creepy Setting

I won’t lie. I’ve been waiting to do this post for ages, as it covers one of my favorite aspects of writing, particularly for the supernatural and horror genres. So I’ve saved the best for last. Today I want to share some tips with you about building a spooktacular setting for your next story. Maybe it’s filled to the brim with creepy stuff, or perhaps it only has fleeting moments of horror. But whatever the case, it’s important to know how to craft a strong element of the heebie-jeebies. Wi...

Trick-Or-Treat Reads: Free Books for Readers

After connecting with Patricia Lynne, YA author, on various social media, she invited me to participate in her awesome annual Trick-Or-Treat Reads event, where authors offer free books for Halloween. This will be my first year participating in the event, but all the same, I’m excited to share it with you guys.

What is Trick-Or-Treat Reads?

When it comes to this spooktacular holiday, kids often get to have all the fun. So Patricia organized this awesome event as a way for young adults and adult...

Developing a Supernatural Edge: Enhancing Your Voice

In all my time writing, both in developing my own pieces and in working with other writers, the most difficult area for me to master has been voice. Narrative voice is something like your DNA in the writing world. It’s your unique ability to craft content and string words together to convey your message. The problem with mastering it is that it’s complex. Because there is no other voice like your own, there’s no blueprint to follow. So how can we first define voice and then enhance it to enr...

Top 5 Reasons Authors Need a Mailing List

If you’re reading this post, you’ve probably read other marketing articles about the topic of building mailing lists. Maybe you’ve agreed with those articles, and maybe you haven’t. Or maybe you’re on the fence, perhaps even wondering why it matters for those who don’t have anything published yet.

In my guest blog on the 10 Minute Novelist site, I talked about how important it is to build an author platform and what you can do to tackle the daunting amount of social media involved in doing so...

How to Catch Typos in Your Own Work

For all you writers out there like myself, you probably know how hard it is to edit your own work, especially when it comes to typos. Your brain automatically fills in the blank—and corrects errors—as you read over each line in your head, making the little boogers near impossible to see. Now, I’m not suggesting that you use this method as a substitute for hiring a professional for the majority of your editing; in fact, you absolutely should be doing that before you even consider publication....

Developing a Supernatural Edge: Rocking Your Theme

In the previous post in this series, I talked about perspective, voice, and unexpected turns. This time, I’ll be focusing on themes, specifically how carefully tying each element in your story to your desired theme will strengthen the piece as a whole and bring unity to its core idea.

What is a theme?

A theme is the central idea or topic found overall in a piece of writing. It is what drives the surrounding content and weaves each subtopic into a uniform structure. In most stories, themes are...