Janice Hardy's Blog, page 113
March 3, 2018
Real Life Diagnostics: Does This Synopsis Work?
Critique By Janice Hardy, @Janice_HardyReal 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: Zero
Please Note: As of today, RLD slots are open.
This week’s questions:
Does this synopsis work?
Is it confusing and hard to follow?
Do you get a sense of characters?
Market/Genre:
On to the diagnosis…
Read more »Written by Janice Hardy. Fiction-University.com
March 2, 2018
Does Your Novel Have Too Many Characters?
By Janice Hardy, @Janice_Hardy In one of her posts, Robyn Hood Black shared an exercise about testing the relationships of your characters to each other using cut out pieces of paper. I loved this idea, and it got me thinking that this was a great way to test a very common writing question:
Does my novel have too many characters?
Read more »Written by Janice Hardy. Fiction-University.com
February 28, 2018
Writing Workshops & Events from Janice Hardy in 2018
By Janice Hardy, @Janice_Hardy On the event and workshop front, 2018 might be my busiest year to-date. I’ve already gone to two (the Orlando Writers Conference and the Coast Magic Convention) and there are more to come. It’s been so busy that I realized yesterday I hadn’t had time to tell everyone about everything yet! Let's fix that right now.
I don’t anticipate any more events after August, but if one happens, I’ll let everyone know.
Here’s where I’ll be in 2018:
Read more »Written by Janice Hardy. Fiction-University.com
February 27, 2018
Upstaged by Backstory: Are You Writing the Wrong Novel?
By David Mack, @DavidAlanMackPart of the How They Do Series
JH: You don't always know where a story is going to go, and what you set out to write isn't always what you end up with. Please help me welcome David Mack to the lecture hall today, to share his thoughts on the backstory that became the novel.
David Mack is the New York Times bestselling author of more than thirty novels of science fiction, fantasy, and adventure, including the Star Trek Destiny and Cold Equations trilogies. His writing credits span several media, including television (for episodes of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine), film, short fiction, magazines, and comic books. He resides in New York City.
Website | Goodreads | Facebook | Twitter | Read an excerpt
Take it away David...
Read more »Written by Janice Hardy. Fiction-University.com
February 26, 2018
How Over-Explaining Will Kill Your Novel
By Janice Hardy, @Janice_Hardy Writers have trust issues sometimes. We worry whether or not our readers will get what we're trying to do. Will they spot that oh-so-subtle hint in chapter three? Will they get the subtext between the romantic leads in scene five? Is the protagonist’s backstory clear or should we throw in a flashback that explains it?
We sometimes worry so much that readers might miss something, we end up shoving the story right down their throats.
And that's bad.
Read more »Written by Janice Hardy. Fiction-University.com
February 23, 2018
Come See Janice Hardy at the Coastal Magic Charity Book Signing
By Janice Hardy, @Janice_Hardy
If you happen to be in the Daytona Beach, FL area this weekend, I'll be at Coastal Magic meeting folks and signing books--including my brand-new Blood Ties , as well as the new targeted editing books.
I'm one of over 50 authors in the fantasy, urban fantasy, and paranormal genres, so there are a lot of great books to be found--and great authors to meet.
I'm attending the convention as well, so look for me and say hello!
Here's more on the signing and the convention itself. I believe there are still some day slots available for anyone who wants to attend.
Just look at this line up:
Read more »Written by Janice Hardy. Fiction-University.com
February 22, 2018
10-Great Strategies to Secure & Monetize Your Author Visit
By Jaimie Engle, @theWRITEenglePart of the Indie Author Series
Author visits are a great way to build your brand and cushion your cash-flow. If you are a good speaker, you can:
Teach at conferences Speak at community events Share at school visits Keynote at all of the above
Read more »Written by Janice Hardy. Fiction-University.com
February 21, 2018
A Handy Tip for Crafting a Seamless Plot
By Janice Hardy, @Janice_Hardy When it comes to writing, I’m a plotter. I like to figure out my story and how it will unfold before I ever start writing. But I’m also a pantser when it comes to characters. I do little work on them beforehand, and prefer to discover who they are as I write.
Because of this, I’m constantly running into moments where my characters say or do things that have zero groundwork in the draft to support them.
They have feelings about the problem they didn’t have at first. They have resources or skills that didn’t appear before. They reveal backstories I had no idea existed.
Read more »Written by Janice Hardy. Fiction-University.com
February 20, 2018
How Shame and Vulnerability Can Connect Us to Characters
By Bonnie Randall Part of the How They Do It Series (Monthly Contributor)
Brene’ Brown said “If we can share our story with someone who responds with empathy and understanding, shame can’t survive.”
Hold onto that quote. It is going to be an important anchor as we dive into some character analysis and contrasts between two highly successful pieces of Domestic Noir: Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn, and The Wife Between Us by the literary team of Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen.
Each of these novels has much to be proud of, and each has an enthusiastic fan base. For the purposes of this article—on how shame and vulnerability can connect us to characters—it will be very clear that one of these novels just didn’t cut it for me. In that, I beg you to remember that reading is a subjective experience, and that my opinion is merely one grain of sand on an endless beach.
Now here we go.
Read more »Written by Janice Hardy. Fiction-University.com
February 19, 2018
The Difference Between a Revision, a Rewrite, and a Redraft
By Janice Hardy, @Janice_Hardy Before I dive in…I’m guest posting over at Writers in the Storm today, talking about The Benefits of Writing a Novel “Just for Fun.” Come over over and say hello.
My current work in progress is one I keep going back to. It’s been written, revised, and redrafted more times than I care to count, and as I’m doing yet another pass on it, I realized I approach it differently depending on what “stage” it’s in.
I have multiple drafts and plotlines of this novel, so I have dozens of favorite scenes and subplots. I have beloved characters who have appeared in one version, but not another. I even have versions where I cut one point of view character out entirely.
Read more »Written by Janice Hardy. Fiction-University.com
