Janice Hardy's Blog, page 111

The End is Near: What Makes a Good Ending?

By Janice Hardy, @Janice_Hardy
 
This Week's Refresher Friday takes another look at what makes a good ending.

Some writers have troubles with beginnings, or more commonly, middles, but for me, it’s endings.

I tend to rush them once I get close, summarizing instead of letting things build to the big bang. I always have to rewrite them, usually several times before I get them right. These days, I work hard to figure out my ending before I start the book. I've learned (the hard way) that the easiest books for me to write are the ones where I know my ending ahead of time.
Read more »Written by Janice Hardy. Fiction-University.com

Understanding Your Ebook Formatting Options

By Marcy Kennedy, @MarcyKennedy

Part of the Indie Author Series

Dipping into the archives again today, with a helpful post from Marcy Kennedy on formatting your ebook.

When I first decided to self-publish, one of the decisions that tied my stomach into the most knots was how to format my ebook. I had a meager budget, and I’ll be honest—I’m not exactly a technological wiz kid. I still use an ancient cell phone with no internet capabilities, and I get heart palpitations every time my computer hiccups.

But what I realized was that ebook formatting isn’t nearly as scary as I thought. In fact, I actually fell a little in love with the process. We have a lot of options, which means we can all find the one that works best for us, for our book, and for our budget.
Read more »Written by Janice Hardy. Fiction-University.com

What's So Wrong With Clichés in Our Fiction? This.

By Janice Hardy, @Janice_Hardy

Dipping into the archives today for a fun (and updated) look at why we should reconsider using a cliché in our fiction. 

Common writing wisdom tells us to avoid clichés, but those lines still slip into our writing. Often, it's the sneaky phrases that sound right for that particular situation. We can't say why it does, we just feel that a character would say or think a line at that moment.

A line such as this:



This video is probably the best example of why the "avoid clichés" advice exists.
Read more »Written by Janice Hardy. Fiction-University.com

5 Essential Truths You Need to Know about The Path to Publication

By Mandy Wallace, @mandycorine

Part of the How They Do It Series

JH: Getting published takes work, but for those starting out, knowing what to work on isn't always clear. Mandy Wallace visits the lecture hall today to share some tips on finding a clear path to your first publication.

Mandy Wallace is a writing coach who shares tips and free tools with new writers. Her blog has been named one of the 100 Best Websites for Writers three years in a row, and several of her posts have clocked over 50k social shares each. Pick up a free copy of her Free Tools for Fiction Writers. Because the writing life should be easy (and fun!).

Website | Twitter | Pinterest | Landing Your First Publication

Take it away Mandy...
Read more »Written by Janice Hardy. Fiction-University.com

The Question You Need to Ask for Every Scene

By Janice Hardy, @Janice_Hardy

There are a slew of questions writers ask when writing fiction. Questions about the story, the characters, the setting, as well as questions the characters themselves pose in the narrative. Then you have the story questions keeping readers hooked—the list goes on and on.

So many questions bounce around in our heads every book, yet we don’t always ask the most important one before we start a scene.

What’s the point of this scene?

This question isn’t about the story or the goals, the conflicts or the character arc—it’s about why we decided to put this scene into our story. What’s our reason for doing it?

If you can’t answer why a scene is there, it’s a huge red flag the scene might not be serving the story.

Read more »Written by Janice Hardy. Fiction-University.com

Writing Prompt: The Photo Prompt: Wedding Bells?

By Janice Hardy, @Janice_Hardy

This week’s prompt is a photo prompt. Write whatever comes to mind, be it a description, a story, or even a poem.

Write something inspired by this photo.    Written by Janice Hardy. Fiction-University.com

Real Life Diagnostics: Do You Feel Grounded in This YA Fantasy Opening?

Critique By Maria D'Marco

Real Life Diagnostics is a weekly column that studies a snippet of a work in progress for specific issues. Readers are encouraged to send in work with questions, and we diagnose it on the site. It’s part critique, part example, and designed to help the submitter as well as anyone else having a similar problem.

If you're interested in submitting to Real Life Diagnostics, please check out these guidelines.

Submissions currently in the queue: Four

Please Note: As of today, RLD slots are booked through April 21.

This week’s questions:

1. Does this opening provide enough context for those who haven’t read the main story? Do you feel grounded?

2. How’s the pacing? Do I drag it too long?

3. What impression do you have of the MC? Does her voice come through? Do you feel connected to her?

4. Would you read on?

5. Since English is my third language, does anything strike you weird/funny?

Market/Genre: YA Fantasy

On to the diagnosis…
Read more »Written by Janice Hardy. Fiction-University.com

There is No Bad Guy: What to do When Your Antagonist Isn't a Villain

By Janice Hardy. @Janice_Hardy

This week's Refresher Friday takes an updated look at writing person vs. society conflicts. 

All stories need an antagonist, but not all stories have a villain. At least not in the literal sense of the word. We'll see an antagonist one from of the four basic conflict types, but that covers a variety of situations. We've discussed the person vs. self antagonists, and person vs. nature conflicts, so today, let's talk about the person vs. society conflicts.

A great example of a person vs. society conflict is the movie In Time . It's a world where people have been genetically altered to stop aging at 25, with a one year advance on their lives after that. To continue living, then need to get more time. They work and are paid in actual time (as in it gets added to their lives). The rich live for centuries, the poor struggle with just days (or less) left. The protagonist is a poor guy named Will who is living hour to hour so to speak.
Read more »Written by Janice Hardy. Fiction-University.com

Analyzing Your Novel for Market Value

By Jaimie Engle, @theWRITEengle

Part of the Indie Author Series

Since 2012, I’ve written 11 books and published 7 of them as an indie author and I’ve blown expectations for average book sale out of the water. The general expectation is 50-500 book sales over the lifetime of your book. In 2017 alone, I sold 987 books, mostly in face to face encounters. I’ve found two distinct ways to make an incredible living in addition to being a published author, through teaching and appearances.

But first, I had to learn the value of my book.
What does that even mean? Your books and my books provide value, but in order to know that, I had to learn how to translate that value to the right audience. And that was harder than writing or editing any novel.

Read more »Written by Janice Hardy. Fiction-University.com

Why You Should Keep Track of Your Story Details

By Janice Hardy, @Janice_Hardy

As a fantasy writer, I’ve long understood the importance of keeping a story bible. A created world has a lot of details to keep track of, from city names, to characters, to rules of magic. Even non-genre writers use story bibles to remember details and characters in a long-running series. But keeping track of details has another use, and one we might not always consider in a first draft.

We don’t always remember the little details that slip in while we’re drafting, and often, those details are pretty darn cool.

I’m not talking about the big details we plan for and write down, but the organic details that emerge as we write a scene. Even the most dedicated outliner is bound to have details spontaneously appear as they write (it is a creative process after all), and these details can be pure gold—as long as we remember to use them or do something with them.
Read more »Written by Janice Hardy. Fiction-University.com