Janice Hardy's Blog, page 67

How Writing a Novel Is Like a Romance

By Janice Hardy, @Janice_Hardy

A writer’s love affair with the story is often a bumpy road—but worth the trip.

A good novel is a well-blended mix of questions and reveals, tease and reward, love and hate—especially during a first draft. If we’re lucky, that first spark results in a long and rewarding relationship, but we shouldn’t mourn if it fizzles out. Not all pairings are meant to be.

When a story works, it’s magical. It makes us feel invincible and capable of moving readers with our words and imagination.

When it doesn’t, it can crush our souls and leave us unwilling to ever try again.

But no matter how many times our storyteller’s heart is broken, we keep going back, because we believe in the power of story. We know that all it takes is the right story and the right time and all our dreams can come true.

Continue ReadingWritten by Janice Hardy. Fiction-University.com

Sunday Writing Tip: Examine Your Protagonist’s Motivations

By Janice Hardy, @Janice_Hardy

Each week, I’ll offer a tip you can take and apply to your WIP to help improve it. They’ll be easy to do and shouldn’t take long, so they’ll be tips you can do without taking up your Sunday. Though I do reserve the right to offer a good tip now and then that will take longer—but only because it would apply to the entire manuscript.

This week, make sure your protagonist has strong, clear, and plausible motivations for acting in the novel.
A common early draft issue is a protagonist who has no real reason to do the thing they’re supposed to do in the story. They act out plot because the story needs then to do it, not because something real is driving them.

Examine the motives and reasons why your characters are acting in your novel. Make sure they have believable reason to want to solve the problems they face, both for the main core conflict, as well as the smaller conflicts they face on a scene by scene basis.

Continue ReadingWritten by Janice Hardy. Fiction-University.com

4 Ways Publisher Rocket Helps Indie Authors Thrive on Amazon

By Dave Chesson, @DaveChesson

Part of The Indie Authors Series

JH: Traveling the publishing path alone requires indie authors to wear a lot of hats and do a lot of tasks. One of the more daunting tasks is marketing. Dave Chesson visits the lecture hall today to share some tips on making that easier. 

Dave Chesson is the founder of Kindlepreneur.com and creator of Publisher Rocket, a software that helps authors market their books more effectively.

Website | Twitter | Facebook

Take it away Dave…
Continue ReadingWritten by Janice Hardy. Fiction-University.com

How to Enjoy Craft Fair Season as an Author (and Sell More Books)

By Charity Bradford, @charitybradford

Part of The Indie Author Series

JH: Successful indie authors seek out and take advantage of additional sales venues and opportunities. Craft fairs are an often-overlook away to introduce you and your work to new readers. Charity Bradford returns to the lecture hall today to show us how she does it.

Charity Bradford has been a voracious reader ever since her 5th grade teacher introduced her to the world of books with Where the Red Fern Grows. She soon became kindred spirits with Anne Shirley and got lost in the worlds of Card, McCaffrey, Bradbury, and Nagata. By college, she was sewing her own Starfleet uniform and developing her alter-ego as a comic book sidekick. She lives in Northwest Arkansas with her hubby and four kids. Some of her guilty pleasures include binge watching Doctor Who and Ancient Aliens. Charity also writes clean contemporary romance under the name River Ford.

Website | Website (River Ford) Newsletter Sign-up | Charity on Facebook | River on Facebook |Twitter | Pinterest | Instagram

Take it away Charity…

Continue ReadingWritten by Janice Hardy. Fiction-University.com

Why Writers Should Want Nitpicky Critiquers

By Janice Hardy, @Janice_Hardy

Being nitpicky in a critique isn't necessarily a bad thing.

Aside from my critique partners, I also have a critique group I meet with twice a month. It’s just the three of us, all published, and all writing MG/YA fantasy. We’re a good match and it’s a solid and always helpful group.

We got together yesterday, and one of my friends said something (and not for the first time), that hit me a little differently than it usually does.

She said that she had a few things about my chapters that were just nitpicking, but she said it like she was apologizing for being picky.

I told her (as I always do), that I love nitpicks. Be nitpicky. Nits are where the gems comes from.

Continue ReadingWritten by Janice Hardy. Fiction-University.com

6 Rules to Pump Up Your Writing

By Laurence MacNaughton, @LMacNaughton

Part of the How They Do It Series

JH: Being an author is a difficult job at times, and some days are harder than others. Rejections, self doubt, fear, and countless frustrations can make a writer wonder, "Why the heck am I doing this?" Laurence MacNaughton returns to the lecture hall today to share tips on getting through the hard days of being a writer.

When considering who gives out the best writing advice in the world, the first name that pops up might not be Arnold Schwarzenegger. But a decade ago, Schwarzenegger presented his “6 Rules of Success” in a now-famous commencement speech at the University of Southern California. And these rules just might hold the key to your success as a writer.

Continue ReadingWritten by Janice Hardy. Fiction-University.com

4 Ways to Write a Better Novel

By Janice Hardy, @Janice_Hardy

Writing a strong novel is about more than technical skills. It’s about storytelling.

I’d gather most writers started writing because they love to tell stories. Characters speak to them, worlds unfold in the their minds, and they see struggles to overcome problems and want to explore those problems. They want to share the amazing things they imagine.

Luckily, this is also why readers pick up a novel. They want to see what adventures we’ve dreamed up and what exciting tales we have to tell. They want to lose themselves in our worlds and characters same as we did.

When those two goals align, a book becomes magic. When they don’t, it sits unread and unappreciated on a shelf, or even a hard drive. And nobody wants that, least of all writers.

Continue ReadingWritten by Janice Hardy. Fiction-University.com

Sunday Writing Tip: Check Your Subtext: Say More with Less

By Janice Hardy, @Janice_Hardy

Each week, I’ll offer a tip you can take and apply to your WIP to help improve it. They’ll be easy to do and shouldn’t take long, so they’ll be tips you can do without taking up your Sunday. Though I do reserve the right to offer a good tip now and then that will take longer—but only because it would apply to the entire manuscript.

This week, look for moments that would be stronger by not stating the emotions and/or thoughts outright.
Subtext is a powerful tool, but also a tricky one, especially in an early draft when we’re still trying to figure out the story. But often, what’s not being said has far more impact on the reader. Good subtext can heighten tensions, create conflict, and even deepen characterization.

Take some time today to look for scenes that could benefit from a little less clarity about how the characters feel and what they think. Rewrite those moments so the subtext carries those emotions and thoughts instead.

Continue ReadingWritten by Janice Hardy. Fiction-University.com

Real Life Diagnostics: Would You Keep Reading This Contemporary Women’s Fiction?

Critique By Janice Hardy, @Janice_Hardy

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: Zero

Please Note: As of today, RLD slots are open.

This week’s questions:

1. Is the protagonist likable? Is she sympathetic?

2. Does her personality come through? Does she have a clear voice?

3. Is the revelation of her skin condition too blunt? Too out-of-the-blue? Should it be posed in a different way?

4. Does the use of fictional brand names clash with using real ones? Is there a rule or a danger to using brand names?

5. Does this work for the first 250 words? Would you read on?

6. Is there anything that stands out negatively to you? Is there anything that can be improved?

Market/Genre: Contemporary Women’s Fiction

On to the diagnosis…

Continue ReadingWritten by Janice Hardy. Fiction-University.com

Instilling Wonder in Your Fiction

By Julie E. Czerneda, @julieczerneda

Part of the How They Do It Series

JH: Stories have a way of sweeping readers into another world, and this is particularly true in genre fiction. Creating a sense of wonder helps pull readers into our stories. Julie E. Czerneda visits the lecture hall to day to share tips on how to put the wonder in our fiction.

For twenty years, Canadian author/former biologist Julie E. Czerneda has shared her curiosity about living things through her science fiction and fantasy. The first installments of her Night’s Edge series (DAW) A Turn of Light and A Play of Shadow , won consecutive Aurora Awards (Canada’s Hugo) for Best English Novel. Julie’s edited/co-edited sixteen anthologies of SF/F, two Aurora winners. The Gossamer Mage is Julie’s twentieth novel published by DAW Books, and she couldn’t be more proud to belong to this esteemed publishing family.

Website | Goodreads | Facebook | Twitter |

Take it away Julie…
Continue ReadingWritten by Janice Hardy. Fiction-University.com