Janice Hardy's Blog, page 88

Real Life Diagnostics: Does This Scene Make You Want to Keep Reading?

Critique By Maria D'Marco

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 December 15.

This week’s questions:

1. Does this scene make you want to keep reading?

2. Does it show, not tell?

3. Is there enough information/description to set the scene for the reader?

Market/Genre: Unspecified

On to the diagnosis…

Continue ReadingWritten by Janice Hardy. Fiction-University.com

You've Finished NaNoWriMo: Now What?

By Janice Hardy, @Janice_Hardy

This week's Refresher Friday is for all those writers who just wrote their hearts out in November and aren't sure what to do next.
A big congratulations to all the NaNo'ers out there who made it through the month. No matter how many words you wrote, rejoice that you dedicated time to writing.

Now that it's over, here are some suggestions on what to do next:
Continue ReadingWritten by Janice Hardy. Fiction-University.com

5 Ways to Write Stronger Opening Scenes

By Janice Hardy, @Janice_Hardy

The opening scene can make or break your novel, so make sure you write a strong one.
There’s a wide range of advice when it comes to writing opening scenes. Many say not to worry about it, because odds are the real opening is several pages (or scenes) into the book and you’ll toss the opening anyway. Others say you won’t really know the right opening scene until you’ve written then ending, and then you’ll go back and rewrite it. Then there are those who can’t write the book until they get the right opening scene, and it won’t need to be changed later.

I agree with all of this, because every writer is different. You might need the “throat clearing” a throwaway opening scene gives you, or you might like to start off strong and build from there. Whatever works for you, works. I’m a “get it right the first time” writer myself and can spend weeks (or longer) just coming up with the perfect opening line.

Continue ReadingWritten by Janice Hardy. Fiction-University.com

You CAN Judge a Book by Its Cover

By Ray Flynt

Part of the Indie Author Series

As difficult as it is to write a book, choosing an indie author path requires attending to so many more aspects of the entire publishing experience. Among the most important is creating a book’s cover.

First, I want to recommend a post by J. Kathleen Cheney from this Indie Author’s Series back in February. She addresses various cover design resources.

A few of my thoughts might overlap, but that’s okay since it never hurts to reinforce good ideas.

We caution against clichés in fiction writing, but in forums like this one, their use can be a shorthand way of making a point. You’ve heard the expression: You can’t judge a book by its cover. True, somewhat. But a cover provides a prospective reader with a sense of what the book might be about. It sets a mood. It reflects your degree of professionalism.

Continue ReadingWritten by Janice Hardy. Fiction-University.com

Editing After #NaNoWriMo – Make Your #Writing Shine

By Chris Eboch

Part of the How They Do It Series

JH: Getting to the end of NaNoWriMo is just the beginning for many writers. After that, it's time to revise those words we raced to get down. Chris Eboch visits the lecture hall today to share some tips on how to make your writing shine post-NaNo.

Chris Eboch is the author of over 60 books for children, including nonfiction and fiction, early reader through teen. Her novels for ages nine and up include The Eyes of Pharaoh , a mystery in ancient Egypt; The Well of Sacrifice , a Mayan adventure; The Genie’s Gift, a middle eastern fantasy; and the Haunted series, about kids who travel with a ghost hunter TV show, which starts with The Ghost on the Stairs .

Learn more at Chris’s website or her Amazon page, or check out her writing tips at her Write Like a Pro! blog. You can also find Chris at B&N/Nook, Kobo, or iBooks, or visit her GoodReads Author Page

Chris also writes for adults under the name Kris Bock. Kris Bock novels are action-packed romantic adventures set in Southwestern landscapes. Fans of Mary Stewart, Barbara Michaels, and Nora Roberts will want to check out Kris Bock’s romantic adventures. “ Counterfeits is the kind of romantic suspense novel I have enjoyed since I first read Mary Stewart’s Moonspinners.” 5 Stars – Roberta at Sensuous Reviews blog

Read excerpts at www.krisbock.com or visit her Amazon page. Sign up for the Kris Bock newsletter for announcements of new books, sales, and more. You can also visit her blog, The Southwest Armchair Traveler, or find Kris Bock on GoodReads, on Facebook, on Twitter, on Pinterest, or on Instagram.

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

A Faster Way to Write a First Draft

By Janice Hardy, @Janice_Hardy 

Writers are always looking for a way to write faster, and sometimes, writing more means starting out with less.
For this year’s NaNoWriMo, I tried something different to see if I could raise my word count and productivity, and get a finished first draft faster. Since my goal was 80,000 words, I’d started a few weeks earlier than November 1, and planned to finish the first draft by November 30.

In seven weeks, I wrote my 80,000 words, 50,000 of them during NaNo.

What constitutes a “fast first draft” varies by writer, but for me, that’s at least half the time it normally takes me to complete a first draft, and a third of the time for those harder-to-write books. That’s an improvement of 50-66% over my regular drafting process. Writers who already write that fast might be able to shorten their drafting times as well.

Continue ReadingWritten by Janice Hardy. Fiction-University.com

Writing Prompt: The Story Starter: Grief Stricken

By Janice Hardy, @Janice_Hardy

This week’s prompt is a story starter, so take the element provided and turn it into a story of any length you choose. If you’re stuck on size, I suggest aiming for 1000-2000 words.

This week’s starter is an opening line.

People react differently to grief.
Write whatever this triggers, and use these details however you wish. Put them together, use them separately, make one a detail in a scene, whatever inspires you—run with it.

Written by Janice Hardy. Fiction-University.com

Real Life Diagnostics: Finding Conflict in Flash 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: One

Please Note: As of today, RLD slots are booked through December 8.

This week’s questions:

1. If the plot and conflict strong enough?

2. Does the prose sing?

3. Is the fight exciting?

4. Is the Show/Tell a good balance?

Market/Genre: Fan-fiction fantasy mash up of Harry Potter and Star Wars

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

Three Ways to Add Tension to a Scene During Revisions

By Janice Hardy, @Janice_Hardy

This week's Refresher Friday takes another look at ways to increase the tension in a scene. Enjoy!

Tension is vital to all stories, but let’s face it—we don’t always have it in every scene. I’ve written plenty of scenes that moved the plot along and conveyed the information I wanted to share, but were weak on tension, especially in a first draft. I’d guess a lot of first draft scenes lack tension because the focus in often on getting the story, setting, or characters down (or any combination of those).

Since writers usually know what is going to happen in a scene and why, it's easy to write all the tension out of a scene. That critical sense of uncertainty goes missing, or we might not write something because we know it won't affect the outcome of the scene, so why bother? But that potential outcome can raise the tension and make the reader wonder what might happen.
Continue ReadingWritten by Janice Hardy. Fiction-University.com

Settings: How Writers Can Leverage Traumatically Closed Systems

By Bonnie Randall 

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

Imperium Intra Imperio (Latin): A state within a state.

“Traumatically Closed”. When I teach Violent Threat Risk Assessment for the North American Centre For Threat Assessment & Trauma Response, participants and I spend a significant amount of time discussing and dissecting Traumatically Closed Systems[1].

What is a Traumatically Closed System?
Within a Traumatically Closed System, information is carefully guarded by all members—who will also display a high degree of suspicion of outsiders.

Continue ReadingWritten by Janice Hardy. Fiction-University.com