Janice Hardy's Blog, page 94

Free E-Book: Plotting Your Novel

By Janice Hardy, @Janice_Hardy

It's October, which means writers all over the world are starting to think about National Novel Writing Month (me included).

To help you make the most of NaNo, for the next two weeks, you can get my Plotting Your Novel: Ideas and Structure ebook for free.

Throughout my career, I have received tremendous support from the writing community and I can't think of a better way to "pass it on" than helping this year's NaNo crowd hit their goals.  Writers helping writers is what it's all about.

For those who've always wanted to write a novel and weren't sure where to start, I hope this guide gets you onto the right track.
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Written by Janice Hardy. Fiction-University.com

Writing Prompt: The Skill Builder: Fixing Your Narrative Flow

By Janice Hardy, @Janice_Hardy

This week’s prompt focuses on an exercise designed to work on a particular skill or technique, such as a POV exercise or character builder.

Today’s prompt is a bit more revision focused, with a task aimed at editing your current project and experimenting with it.

I’ve been discussing sentence flow and structure a lot the last few weeks, so let’s put some of that into practice. Today’s skill:

Sentence flow
Pick a scene and copy it into a new file so you’re free to much with it without losing anything.

Next, review it specifically for sentence structure and narrative flow. Look for paragraphs that use mostly the same style of sentence. Look for clunky or awkward dialogue tags. Look for repetition of words, ideas, or structure. Look for faulty parallelisms.

Move some dialogue tags around and see where they best fit in the scene. Break up a few longer sentences. Combine short sentences so they flow better as one longer, complex sentence. Even move some paragraphs around and see if changing when the information is revealed changes the flow or feel of the scene. Written by Janice Hardy. Fiction-University.com

Real Life Diagnostics: How Do You Feel About This Character?

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: Three

Please Note: As of today, RLD slots are booked through October 20.

This week’s questions:

How does Synthea comes across? What will readers think of her, and her relationship with/feelings for Zafira?

Market/Genre: Science Fction

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

Five Edits to Strengthen Your Writing, Right Now

By Janice Hardy, @Janice_Hardy

Dipping into one of my favorites for this week's Refresher Friday, with an updated look at easy ways to improve your writing. Enjoy!

Back when I was first learning how to write and trying to figure it all out, one of my favorite things to discover was a great writing tip. The tips that I could immediately apply to my work and see actual improvement were the best. I got especially excited over lists of words or specific examples, because I could do a search and find the weak areas right away. Which is probably why I like to do a lot of lists and examples now in my own articles.

While there's nothing inherently wrong with a "weak word," they do tend to hang around trouble areas--just like those red flag words with show, don't tell. They're good places to start looking when something feels off in your work or you're getting negative feedback. If you're just looking for the next step to improve your craft, these are good words to search for to find possible places to revise.

Let's a take a peek at a few of those "weak area words" that often pull readers out of a story.
Continue ReadingWritten by Janice Hardy. Fiction-University.com

Create Your Perfect Writing Space

By Janice Hardy, @Janice_Hardy

Part of The Writer’s Life Series

When I first started writing, it was at my desk, usually in class, while ignoring my teachers. Over the years my writing space evolved to a real desk in my room, then it migrated to the dining room table after I got my own apartment, and eventually a home office. I’ve written on the living room sofa, in a coffee shop, and even airports and hotel rooms.

This past year my husband and I have been remodeling the house, and part of that includes building out the upstairs bonus room to be my office and writing space. After a decade as “an author,” I finally get to design that dream office I always wanted.

Having a dedicated writing space is important, because it triggers our brain that it’s time to write” whenever we go there. It helps us build solid writing habits and routines, and those habits will get us through the days when the writing is hard and the ideas aren’t coming.
Continue ReadingWritten by Janice Hardy. Fiction-University.com

5 Things to Consider When Choosing a Character’s Career

By Janice Hardy, @Janice_Hardy

A character’s job is a useful tool when developing a novel.
I’ve been working hard on a new book this week, and since it’s a bit outside my normal genre (this one’s a science fiction detective novel), I’ve had to do a few things differently. There are elements to this genre I haven’t had to worry about in previous books.

Most notably, has been how my protagonist’s job affects the rest of the plot. As a private investigator, his job is the plot, and that career choice affects pretty much everything else in the novel.

In one way, this makes developing this novel easier. I have very clear parameters to work in, and a specific character type to flesh out.

In another way, it adds a layer of difficulty. The most obvious and easiest path is also the most overused or even cliched. I don’t want that, even if I might want to play with the tropes and cliches a little (I can never resist this—it’s too much fun).
Continue ReadingWritten by Janice Hardy. Fiction-University.com

Leveraging The Emotional Spectrum in Your Writing

By Bonnie Randall

Part of the How They Do It Series (Monthly Contributor) 

Every base emotion—love, sadness, anger, envy, happiness—resides upon a spectrum. Such spectrums range from pallid to intense, and an emotional response will be variant depending on the precipitating event, the personality of the individual experiencing it, and that person’s history. Consider the following chart:

Low Spectrum → Base Emotion → High Spectrum → Off-Chart/Dysfunction

Content → HAPPY → Euphoria → Mania

Melancholy → SAD → Despair → Suicide/Homicide

Indignant → ANGER → Rage → Wrath/Destruction

Snarky → JEALOUS → Obsessive → Sabotage

Restless → NERVOUS → Paranoia → Psychotic Break

Satisfaction → PROUD → Arrogance → Tyranny

Uneasy → FEAR → Panic→  Hysteria
Continue ReadingWritten by Janice Hardy. Fiction-University.com

Writers Take Heart: First Drafts Don't Always Suck

By Janice Hardy, @Janice_Hardy

Just because it's a first draft doesn't mean it has to be a terrible manuscript. 
There's a common term in the writing world: the s%#@y first draft. Despite the harshness of the words, it's actually meant as encouragement. Most first drafts are rough and not very good, and that's the point. They're not supposed to be, because they're a brain dump to get an idea down and see how it all works.

But many writers--especially new writers--think a novel pops perfectly from the author's head. When that doesn't happen, they get frustrated and discouraged. Some may even given up entirely, which is a shame.

Continue ReadingWritten by Janice Hardy. Fiction-University.com

Writing Prompt: The Free Write: The Blues

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.

Write down this opening sentence and follow it wherever it goes:

There was entirely too much blue.
Write as much or as little as you’d like. Written by Janice Hardy. Fiction-University.com

Real Life Diagnostics: Would This Query Letter Make You Ask for More?

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: Three

Please Note: As of today, RLD slots are booked through October 13.

This week’s question:

Would this query letter make you ask for more?

Market/Genre: Young adult fantasy

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