Janice Hardy's Blog, page 49

Planning for the Average Procrastinator

By Aliza Mann, @AlizaMannAuthor

Part of The Writer’s Life Series

JH: Some days, it's harder to get started than others, and procrastination can kill all our plans. Aliza Mann shares tips on how to overcome procrastination and get started again.

Ever since she was a small child, Aliza Mann loved to tell stories. It started in the backyard of her family’s home in Atlanta, Georgia. There weren’t a lot of children in the neighborhood, so she would spend hours making up fantasy worlds where everything was perfect and everyone was loved. After her parents decided to relocate to Detroit, Michigan, things changed. In her new home, she learned words like recession, layoff and was personally introduced to a world completely opposite of the life she’d known. As hard as life’s lessons can be, she busied herself by reading anything she could get her hands on. In high school, she would fall in love with literature and alas, romance. From the moment she opened the cover of a historical page turner, she found herself hooked. With eyes wide and a smile on her face, she devoured as many novels as she could find and she dreamed that she could write like that too. Maybe. Like most childhood dreams, she soon found that they could be pushed to the side and categorized with a label that read, ‘One day…’

One day finally came, when she found herself laid off from her day job. As things happen, this set back helped to segue her back onto the writing path. She found herself starting a novel which will probably never see the light of day, but gave her more joy than she’d ever though possible. Today, while it’s been some years since her last layoff and she is actively working in the public sector, she balances her love of writing a great story between two pseudo-adult children, a fabulous son-in-law, a granddaughter, and the man of her dreams. A true book nerd, she is almost always reading and for sure, writing the world in a way that shows its true beauty, served with a heaping side of happily ever after.

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Goodreads | BookBub | Instagram |

Take it away Aliza…

Continue ReadingWritten by Janice Hardy. Fiction-University.com

Plot Your Novel in 3 Simple Steps

By Laurence MacNaughton, @LMacNaughton

Part of the How They Do It Series

JH: Figuring out your novel's plot doesn't have to be a complicated process. Laurence MacNaughton share how to plot your novel in three simple steps.

There are thousands of different plotting methods out there that you could use to plan your novel. This method here is simple and easy to learn. And, bonus, it's entirely character-driven, so it will help you create rich, strong characters that readers will love. It's just three steps.

1. Give your main character an existing problem.
Before your story even begins, there needs to be something wrong in the main character's life.

Continue ReadingWritten by Janice Hardy. Fiction-University.com

Don't Finish: Ways to be a More Productive Writer, Part 3

By Janice Hardy, @Janice_Hardy

Sometimes leaving things unfinished is exactly what you need to boost your productivity. 

Being a productive writer isn't about doing everything right, but about finding the tips and tricks that work for you. Sometimes you need to do something that feels counter-intuitive, but it's that shift in thought that shakes up your process and changes the way you work.

This first article in this series is on finding the right time and place to write. The series continues with more on preparation, not re-reading too much of the previous session, and leaving yourself notes. Today in my "Be a More Productive Writer" series, it's all about priming the pump.

Tip number three on being a more productive writer:

End your writing sessions in the middle of a sentence. Continue ReadingWritten by Janice Hardy. Fiction-University.com

WIP Diagnostic: Is This Working? A Closer Look at Point of View and Internalization

Critique By Janice Hardy, @Janice_Hardy

WIP 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 WIP Diagnostics, please check out these guidelines. 

Submissions currently in the queue: Three

Please Note: As of today, critique slots are booked through May 2.

This week’s questions:

Do you think POV works? Have I done italics correctly? Am I handling staying in this victim's head okay? Am I showing too much?

Market/Genre: Historical Crime Fiction

On to the diagnosis…

Continue ReadingWritten by Janice Hardy. Fiction-University.com

The Spit Shine: Things to Check Before You Submit (or Publish) Your Novel

By Janice Hardy, @Janice_Hardy

There's a lot to remember when revising a novel, so here's a list of words to check before you declare that novel "finished." 

I love checklists, especially ones that I can use to easily improve my manuscript. My master editing list is always a favorite, and I like to bring it out at least once a year for the new readers. For long-time readers, I've added a few new words as well.

One of the last things I do with a novel before I call it "done," is to go through a list of words I know I overuse (or misuse), words I shouldn't use many of, words that often spell trouble, and words to avoid. I search for each one and decide if I really need it, or if the sentence would be better without it. It's boring and tedious, but it does force me to focus on those little edits that can really tighten a manuscript.

I call it the spit shine.

This long list has developed over years from various books, posts, conferences, etc. on how to write and edit. I've found it very helpful in cleaning up stragglers and tightening the prose.

Even better, after you've done this a few times, you'll stop using a lot of these words, because you've trained yourself out of it. Your early drafts will be tighter and need less editing.
Continue ReadingWritten by Janice Hardy. Fiction-University.com

In Tough Times, Find Your Writing Comfort Zone

By Sherry Howard, @SherLHoward

Part of The Writer's Life Series

JH: Sherry Howard shares thoughts on making it through trying times as a writer.

Sherry Howard lives with her children and silly dogs in Middletown, Kentucky. Sherry is the author of the picture book ROCK AND ROLL WOODS, with a starred Kirkus review. Her poems and stories have appeared in multiple journals and anthologies. She also writes for the educational market, with about a dozen books.

Sherry Howard | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram

Take it away Sherry...

Continue ReadingWritten by Janice Hardy. Fiction-University.com

Identifying a Loss of Momentum vs. Writer’s Block

By Janice Hardy, @Janice_Hardy

Some days, we sit down to write and the words won’t come. Are we blocked? Maybe not.

Even before the pandemic and quarantine intruded into life, I’d hit a patch in my writing where I wasn’t getting much done. I’d just finished a major revision, so this wasn’t unexpected—I usually need a break after a draft is done—but it dragged on longer than usual. Every time I sat down to write, I couldn’t.

I wasn’t blocked, I knew that. I just didn’t have any urge to write even though I knew I should be writing. I’ve been writing long enough that I knew the difference, but not every writer has realized yet that just because you have trouble writing, doesn’t mean something is wrong.

Not Being Able to Write Doesn’t Always Mean You Have Writer’s Block
We get tired. We get stressed. We have insane things going on in the world that sap our energy. These things can easily make it difficult if not impossible to write. And thankfully, it’s temporary.

Continue ReadingWritten by Janice Hardy. Fiction-University.com

Writing in the Time of Covid-19

By Jodi Turchin, @jlturchin

Part of The Writer's Life Series

JH: There world is a challenging place right now, and stress can easily sap a writer's creative energy. Jodi Turchin shares tips on writing in the world of Covid-19.

Jodi Turchin is a Young Adult novelist represented by Dawn Frederick at Red Sofa Literary. She’s also a photographer, a high school English teacher, a former actress and director, an Independent Scentsy Consultant, and a Younique presenter.

Website | Twitter

Take it away Jodi…

Continue ReadingWritten by Janice Hardy. Fiction-University.com

Oh, That's Subtle: The Little Things Holding Your Novel Back

By Janice Hardy, @Janice_Hardy

Subtlety can mean the difference between a novel that works and one that falls flat. 

The smallest change have a big impact on your writing. One word change, one shift in perspective, and everything's different. Hopefully such changes result in a better story, but when they don't, spotting what's wrong can be frustrating. 

Maybe you're struggling with a story right now, or submitting one that's getting good feedback, but just not quite landing anywhere, or having beta readers tell you it's good, but not great, and it's lacking something they can't put their finger on. You know you can fix it if you could just find it.

Take a closer look and see if there's a subtle reason that's holding your novel back. 
Continue ReadingWritten by Janice Hardy. Fiction-University.com

WIP Diagnostic: Is This Working? A Closer Look at a Historical YA Opening

Critique By Maria D'Marco

WIP 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 WIP Diagnostics, please check out these guidelines. 

Submissions currently in the queue: Two

Please Note: As of today, critique slots are booked through April 18.

This week’s question:

Is this working?

Market/Genre: Young Adult

On to the diagnosis…
Continue ReadingWritten by Janice Hardy. Fiction-University.com