Janice Hardy's Blog, page 87

A Goal-Checking Trick for Plotting Your Novel

By Janice Hardy, @Janice_Hardy 

Here's a handy trick to make sure your plots are strong and driving your novel to the end.
I’ve just finished a rough draft of my latest novel, and like all my rough drafts, I have to fill in some holes and fix a few issues before it’s done enough to call it a first draft. This is all part of my usual process, so I don’t worry about things that don’t yet line up or work (I’ll get there). The rough draft is my way of getting the idea down and giving me something to work with to bring my story to life.

One of my first steps is creating a brand-new editorial map. I already have an outline, but it gets messy with notes and old ideas I forgot to edit out, so I like to do a fresh map to make sure my outline matches what I’ve actually written. It’s also a nice way to remind myself of the story flow and spot holes and things I need to fix on round two.

Continue ReadingWritten by Janice Hardy. Fiction-University.com

Conquering the Fear of Revision

By Jodi Turchin

Part of the How They Do It Series

JH: Writing the first draft of a novel is only the first step. Revision comes next, and it can be a challenge for many writers. To help, Jodi Turchin visits the lecture hall today to help us conquer the fear of revision.
Jodi is a college professor, high school English teacher, YA novelist, and photographer. She has been a member of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators for over a decade and has been a member of the Romance Writers Association as well. She teaches writing workshops for teens through her local libraries. Jodi lives in Coral Springs, Florida with her former-rockstar roommate and her canine daughter, Violet.

Website | Facebook |

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

First Look at a First Draft: How to Revise Your Manuscript

By Janice Hardy, @Janice_Hardy

Holiday prep had me buried all weekend, so let's dip into the archives today with how to look at your first draft.

There's something exciting and rewarding about a first draft. The story that's been in our heads is finally down on paper and we can see how it developed. Sometimes it unfolded exactly how we pictured, but more often we encountered snags here and there and discovered fun twists and plots as we wrote. The draft might even be, shall we say, a little messy.

And that's okay, because first drafts are often messy and filled with holes. It's what you do with it from here that really matters. As the adage goes...writing is rewriting.

(Here's more on the imperfect first draft)

During that first look, I like to start with the macro structural issues, because if they aren't working, no amount of polishing the text is going to help. It's much easier to do the heavier rewrites in draft form before the story becomes mentally "set in stone." Drafts are supposed to be messed with. So I recommend analyzing your goal and plot structure to make sure your story has something driving the plot, reasons for those somethings to be happening, and that you keep building your stakes to the end.

Continue ReadingWritten by Janice Hardy. Fiction-University.com

Real Life Diagnostics: Does This YA Scene Hold Your Interest?

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: None

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

This week’s question:

1. Is this scene working?

Market/Genre: Young Adult Fantasy

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

Two Questions to Ask for Stronger Character Goals and Motivations

By Janice Hardy, @Janice_Hardy

This week's Refresher Friday takes another look and how to write better scenes. Enjoy!

The sheer number of plotting questions I get both here and in person is a good indicator that plotting is something a lot of writers struggle with. It's not a craft issue really, because you can write some beautiful prose and still have trouble creating a good plot.

I've had many a brainstorming session with many a stuck or struggling writer, and over the years I've noticed a few questions keep coming up.

What does the protagonist hope to gain?

Why is the protagonist doing it?

Basically, what's the character's goal and what's the motivation for trying to achieve that goal.

Continue ReadingWritten by Janice Hardy. Fiction-University.com

Tips On Becoming a Better Writer

By George A Bernstein, @GeorgeBernstein

Part of The Writer's Life Series

So you’ve written your novel, and edited the heck out of it, but how do you get it good enough to actually get published? I went through that problem for a long time, slowly getting to where I had to be as a quality writer.

Here are some suggestions, now that you’ve written a workable product. How do we turn an everyday Volkswagen into a Lexus?

My first suggestion to every new writer is to find a GOOD writers conference (or 2 or 3!), hopefully somewhere near enough to drive to—unless you’ve got cash to burn. Then I recommend you fly to Maui. That’s the Cadillac of conferences.

A well-run conference is usually operated by local writing groups. The Florida Writers Association, for instance, hosts a 3-day event every October, usually in the Orlando area, and the Mystery Writers of America does the three-day SleuthFest each year in Boca Raton, FL, around the first of March.

Continue ReadingWritten by Janice Hardy. Fiction-University.com

What to Do When You Really Don’t Want to Write That Scene

By Janice Hardy, @Janice_Hardy

Some scenes are hard to write, and others fight you every word. Does that mean something is wrong with it?
In every first draft I’ve ever written, I reached a point where I forced myself to finish a scene. It didn’t want to be written, it fought me every word, and it took me days to write. I just wanted it done and over with, and when it was really bad, it threw me right out of my writing groove.

But my outline said to do it, my daily plan said to write it, so I did. And it was terrible. Didn’t matter what scene or which book, it always turned out the same.

Eventually, I realized this was a huge red flag that something was wrong with the scene. If I didn’t want to write it, what made me think someone would want to read it?
Continue ReadingWritten by Janice Hardy. Fiction-University.com

6 Best How-To Books for Writers

By Laurence MacNaughton, @LMacNaughton  

Part of the How They Do It Series (Contributing Author)

JH: With the holidays coming up fast, you might be looking for gifts for the writers in your life. Or looking for things spend your gift card money on come January. Either way, here's a great selection of writing books that will go with any writer's shelf.

Countless best-selling authors have told me that in their early years, before they were published, they relentlessly studied the craft of writing. I've had hundreds of writing books recommended to me. Here are the very best of them all, the books I always keep within arm’s reach of my writing desk.


1. Save the Cat! Writes a Novel by Jessica Brody
Way back when I worked for a book distributor, Michael Wiese Productions sent me a sample copy of the original Save the Cat by Blake Snyder. I devoured that book, and it helped launch my career as a novelist.

The original Save the Cat! book series was aimed at screenwriters. This brand-new version by Jessica Brody seamlessly adapts Blake Snyder’s methods for novelists. It’s one of the best “how to write a novel” books of the decade.

Get it. Read it. Follow it. You'll be glad you did.


2. The Emotion Thesaurus by Angela Ackerman & Becca Puglisi
Whenever you or I write the first draft of the story, our characters tend to exhibit the same cliche body language: nodding, shrugging, grinning. Pretty uninspired stuff, really.

Solution? Crack open this book, which contains more than 150 pages of body language, internal sensations, and mental responses to every imaginable emotion.

Is your character determined? Show him rolling up his sleeves. Is she mortified? Show her covering her face with her hands. Instantly, this book will have your characters winking, swaggering, leaning closer, tapping their feet, tightening their fists -- and coming alive on the page.

While you're getting this book, pick up the rest of the books in this series. Believe me, you'll use them.

3. Writing Screenplays That Sell by Michael Hauge
Michael Hauge is a storytelling genius. He’s not only a best-selling author and inspiring speaker, he’s also one of Hollywood’s top story experts. He’s worked on projects starring Will Smith, Julia Roberts, Tom Cruise, Reese Witherspoon, and Morgan Freeman. This book is packed solid with practical, nuts-and-bolts techniques you can use to write a better screenplay, novel, short story, or any work of fiction. It’s no exaggeration to say that reading that book forever transformed the way I look at stories.

Plus, Hauge is a super, super nice guy. Every time I talk to him, I come away wiser. So check out his books.

4. Scene & Structure by Jack M. Bickham
You really should read all of Jack Bickham’s books on writing, but this one in particular. It is packed with masterful techniques to keep readers hooked throughout a story.

Perhaps the biggest revelation in this book is the way Bickham breaks down cause and effect. Stories are told not just in scenes, but also in something he calls “sequels.” A sequel is a moment (or even a whole chapter) when the lead character emotionally reacts to the previous scene, revisits the big story questions, works through a dilemma, and decides on a new course of action.

If you want to become a successful author, you need to master the scene and sequel technique. This book shows you how.

5. The DC Comics Guide to Writing Comics by Dennis O'Neil
Even if you don't read comic books, you can't deny their enormous impact on popular books, movies, and TV shows today. Best-selling novelist and comic book legend Dennis O'Neil breaks down the elements that make comic book stories work. It's also a fascinating primer on solid storytelling techniques that can benefit any writer.


6. The Complete Writer's Guide to Heroes and Heroines by Tami D. Cowden, Carol LeFever, Sue Viders
I happened to pick up this book at the Tattered Cover bookstore nearly 20 years ago, and I have never since found a more practical guide to character relationships.

Aimed at romance writers (but useful to anyone), this book divides male and female characters into eight broad archetypes. Male types include The Chief, the Bad Boy, the Best Friend, etc. Female types include the Nurturer, the Free Spirit, the Librarian, and so on.

This is not in-depth psychology, here. But it works. Take a look at my Dru Jasper urban fantasy series. I have a Librarian named Dru and a Bad Boy named Greyson. They fall in love. By and large, the critics love them.

The genius of this book is that it shows you how the archetypes interact with each other. For example, how do the Bad Boy and the Librarian drive each other crazy? How do they work together as a team? How do they eventually change each other for the better? Read the book and find out.

What are your favorite writing books?

I'm always on the lookout for new books to add to my shelf. What titles have you found to be especially useful, interesting, or inspiring? Leave me a comment below, or contact me on my author website at www.LaurenceMacNaughton.com.

Laurence MacNaughton is the author of more than a dozen novels, novellas, and short stories. His work has been praised by Booklist, Publishers Weekly, RT Book Reviews, Library Journal, and Kirkus Reviews. He lives in Colorado with his wife and too many old cars. Try his stories for free at www.laurencemacnaughton.com.

Website | Facebook | Twitter | Goodreads 




About No Sleep till Doomsday (Dru Jasper, Book 3)

An inexperienced sorceress must retrieve a priceless artifact from the enchantress who stole it, break the curse on her half-demon boyfriend, and stop her friends from turning on each other before the enchantress calls down doomsday.

When a wicked enchantress steals a cursed doomsday amulet, crystal sorceress Dru Jasper has only twenty-four hours to get it back before the world will come to a fiery end. With this supernatural amulet in hand, the enchantress intends to break the sixth seal of the apocalypse scroll--making the seas boil, the stars fall from the sky, and the earth itself split apart. Overall, bad news.

Dru must hit the road to get the amulet back. But she suspects her half-demon boyfriend, Greyson, and his demon-possessed muscle car, Hellbringer, are hiding a dark secret. Can she trust them to help her stop doomsday? Worse, tracking down the enchantress runs Dru smack up against a pack of killer shape-shifters, the grim mystery of a radioactive ghost town, and a dangerous speed demon even more powerful than Hellbringer.

As the clock runs out, Dru is locked in a high-speed chase with the enchantress, fighting a fierce, magical duel she can never win alone. Can Dru and her sorcerer friends unravel Hellbringer's secrets, outwit the shape-shifters, and retrieve the stolen amulet before the dawn of doomsday?

Amazon | Barnes & Noble | iTunes | Indie Bound | Kobo

Written by Janice Hardy. Fiction-University.com

Want to Improve Your Writing? Change Your Thinking

By Janice Hardy, @Janice_Hardy

A mental shift in how we think about our writing and process can change our perspective, and thus, help us see the things we’ve been missing.
A long time ago, when I was still fairly new to writing, I had my mind blown by a simple “change of perspective” in how I looked at writing. It was a light-bub moment that finally made me understand something I’d been struggling with at that time—point of view.

In the years that followed, I’ve had plenty moments where changing how I viewed or thought about something writing-related helped me understand it, or use it better. As I’ve spoken with other writers, I’ve seen the same lights go on in their eyes as they looked at something they’d struggled with and finally saw things click into place.

Continue ReadingWritten by Janice Hardy. Fiction-University.com

Writing Prompt: The Free Write: A Deal You Can’t Refuse

By Janice Hardy, @Janice_Hardy

This week’s prompt is a free write, so take the seed below and run with it. It doesn’t have to turn into anything (unless you want it to, of course), just let the words flow and see where they go.

Take this situation and follow it wherever it goes:

Someone offers your protagonist a deal that gives them their dream, but they have to do something that goes against their principles to get it.
Write as much or as little as you’d like. Written by Janice Hardy. Fiction-University.com