Janice Hardy's Blog, page 86

Sunday Writing Tip: Fix Any Confusing Names in Your Novel

Real Life Diagnostics: Does This Query Blurb Make You Want to Ask for Pages?

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: One

Please Note: As of today, RLD slots are booked through January 12.

This week’s question:

Does this query blurb draw attention and make you want to ask for pages?

Market/Genre: Romantic Thriller

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

What to Do When Your Novel's Too Short

By Janice Hardy, @Janice_Hardy

This week's Refresher Friday takes an updated look at ways to flesh out a novel that's too short. Enjoy!

Before we dive in, just a heads up that I'm over at Writers in the Storm today, asking the question--What Do You Really Know About Your Critique Partners? Come on over and say hello. 

Although most word count problems are too many words, the too-short novel does happen. I've talked before about things to do to bulk up a short novel, but today, let's look at a novel that's not just light on one writing aspect (such as not enough description or dialogue), but is actually, truly too short for the market or genre it’s intended for.

This novel has all the right pieces--a solid plot, good writing, good subplots, a complete and solid story--but it's not where it needs to be word count-wise. Just adding more “stuff” to it isn't going to solve the problem, because the book is working great right where it's at.
Continue ReadingWritten by Janice Hardy. Fiction-University.com

5 Tips for Success from an Indie Author

By Shaz Kahng

Part of the Indie Authors Series

JH: Writers have multiple options for publishing, and going indie is a viable path many authors choose. Please help me welcome Shaz Kahng to the lecture hall today, to share her tips on successfully self publishing. 

Shaz Kahng writes from her own experience, having led teams in a few male-dominated industries. She is a retail/apparel chief executive who has previously worked as a research scientist, a global consulting partner, a builder of e-businesses, and a brand strategist. Shaz was one of a handful of female senior executives at Nike. She was also the chief executive of Lucy Activewear and worked with her team to make the company profitable for the first time in history. She graduated from Cornell University and has an MBA from the Wharton School. Shaz lives in San Francisco with her husband and twin daughters.

Website | Goodreads | Facebook | Twitter |

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

Are You Looking for a Critique Group or Partner?

By Janice Hardy, @Janice_Hardy

It's Crit Time Again! The 2019 Winter Group is now open!

Back in 2013 I started a Yahoo Group called "Janice Hardy's Critique Connection" to help writers connect with like-minded folks looking for critique groups or partners. It was designed to help people find long-term, quality writing partners, not just places you can toss up your work and get quick feedback.

It went from a one-time event to annually, and now to every six months (I open it up every January and July). If you're looking to join or create a critique group, add more to your existing group, or find a critique partner, odds are you'll find someone here.
Continue ReadingWritten by Janice Hardy. Fiction-University.com

Writers: Start the Year with a Clean Slate

By Sherry Howard, @SherLHoward

Part of the How They Do It Series

JH: I've always found starting over easier than catching up, and I'm sure I'm not alone. Sherry Howard is our first guest lecturer of the year, and she's here to share some tips on the benefits of tabula rasa.

Sherry Howard lives with her children and crazy dogs in Middletown, Kentucky, a stone's throw from the beautiful horse farms her state is always bragging about. She was an award-winning educator, serving as teacher, consultant, and principal in one of the largest urban-suburban school districts in the US. Sherry loves to read, write, cook, and sit in the sand watching the waves when she can. Her poems and stories have appeared in multiple journals and anthologies. Her picture book, Rock and Roll Woods , released in 2018 to a starred Kirkus review.

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram

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

The 2018 Wrap Up: What Did We Accomplish This Year?

By Janice Hardy, @Janice_Hardy

New Year’s Eve is a time of reflection, and 2018 was a year full of highs and lows. I published some books, attended a slew of events, and ran myself ragged. My husband and I said goodbye to two cats—one we lost too young to cancer (he was 10) the other to old age (he was 18, but still too young), but we also adopted two kittens who made the losses easier to bear. We tore up our house and our lives and reached a dream we’d been after for a long time (at least halfway—the other half is this year). I spent a lot of time with friends and family, but also forgot to carve out enough time for myself.

Every year, I like to take today and wrap up my year and set some goals for the next. I don’t always meet them, but I do try, and pushing myself a little more every year means I get more accomplished than I would have had I done nothing. I invite you to join me in this look back before we move forward into 2019.

Continue ReadingWritten by Janice Hardy. Fiction-University.com

Happy Holidays from Fiction University!

I'm taking a break this week to enjoy the holiday and recuperate from the year. I'll see you all next week with the end-of-year round up, new articles and guest authors, and the winter opening of the 2019 Critique Connection for those looking for a critique group or partner. 
Hope everyone has (or had) a wonderful holiday and a Happy New Year.
--Janice HardyWritten by Janice Hardy. Fiction-University.com

Getting to the Heart of the Matter: Infusing Emotion into Fiction

By Charissa Weaks,@charissaweaks

Part of the How They Do It Series

JH: Emotion helps readers connect to characters, and in some genre, it's a key component of the novel. Charissa Weaks visits the lecture hall today to share some tips on how to add emotion to your fiction.

Charissa Weaks is an author of historical fantasy and speculative fiction. She crafts stories with magic, time travel, romance, and history, and the occasional apocalyptic quest. When she’s not writing, you can find Charissa digging through four-hundred-year-old texts for research or cuddled with her pups.

Charissa lives just south of Nashville with her husband and children. She is active in the Historical Novel Society, has been named President and PRO-Liason for her local Romance Writers of America chapter, and is a member of the Women’s Fiction Association. She’s also the creator and editor of Once Upon Anthologies.

To keep up with her writing endeavors, join her newsletter, The Monthly Courant.

Website | Goodreads | Facebook | Twitter | Pinterest |

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

5 Tips to Improve Your Next Novel Cover

By J. Kathleen Cheney, @jkcheney

Part of the Indie Authors Series

One of the things I’ve been working on recently is getting my cover-making work started up. I’ve been making covers for myself since 2011, but only recently started looking at it as a sideline, and thus have been honing my Photoshop skills and trying to practice every day. Not unexpectedly, this has been an eye-opening experience for me, not only as to the limits of the PS program, but also how the parameters I’m given make the possibilities for covers better or worse.

So my cover artist self has some tips to pass on to my writer self that will help make my next cover better.

Tip #1: Short words are better for titlesContinue ReadingWritten by Janice Hardy. Fiction-University.com