Florence Witkop's Blog, page 26
June 14, 2019
What are some tips on writing novellas?
A novella falls into what used to be a creative desert between short stories and full length novels. No more. People don’t always want to give the time to reading a novel that it requires, especially since novels are getting longer and longer and longer until sometimes a reader can measure a book’s thickness in …
June 10, 2019
How can creative writing help someone cope with their mental illness?
Many people with mental or emotional issues use creative writing to ‘write out’ their problems. The structure required to put together a creative work forces them to put structure to what they experience. That structure helps them put the problem into some kind of order and, with order, they may finally be able to make …
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June 7, 2019
The Pathfinder, book one of Wilderness Women
Here’s the cover for the first book of the Wilderness Women series, The Pathfinder. It’s not published yet though it’s finished because I’m giving myself a lot of time to look for typos. I’ve never had someone else go through my manuscripts for typos. Instead, I’ve always done it myself and I’ve discovered that I …
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June 3, 2019
Is there any book for improving story telling skills?
What book will improve your storytelling skills? Any how-to book for writers describing the hero’s journey as promoted by Joseph Conrad and how to use this method in fiction. I had such a book once upon a time but it’s long since disappeared so I went online to see if I could find it and, …
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May 31, 2019
Should I write all three books in a trilogy before publishing the first one?
Should you write all three books in a trilogy before publishing the first one? There are two thoughts about this: If you are an experienced author, you can do it however you wish because you know before you start how long it will take to complete the trilogy. This is important because an author should …
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May 27, 2019
Should I continue writing even after receiving bad critiques?
Should you continue writing after receiving bad critiques? It depends…. If you never, ever receive a good critique about anything you write and you also never, ever change how you write, then maybe you should consider some other occupation. On the other hand, you might consider learning read criticism in a constructive way because that …
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May 24, 2019
What is the best urban fantasy cliche to avoid?
What cliches should urban fantasy avoid? My answer is the purely personal preference that a story not have too many! Too many impossible magical situations. Too many different kinds of fantasy creatures. There’s a thing that’s called deus ex machina (spelling might be wrong). It refers to operas in which the story got so complicated …
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May 20, 2019
I”m writing a book where the main characters are triplets, however their names all end in ‘vim.’ Should I do something about this or will the names not be a problem?
How to give characters names that can easily be distinguished from names of other characters? This is something that irritates me often. Why do so many authors give names to their characters that are so similar to other characters’ names that the reader needs a written list to keep them apart? But it happens. Try …
May 17, 2019
How is e-book writing different from writing a traditional print book?
How is writing e-books different from writing traditional bricks-and-mortar books? Having made the transition from writing for traditional, bricks-and-mortar publishers to writing for e-publishers, I feel somewhat qualified to answer this question and can state unequivocally that here are several differences that should inform what you write and how you write it. The differences that …
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May 13, 2019
What is the best way to start a horror novel?
I was asked what’s the best way to start a horror novel. The answer is: the same as the best way to start any novel but, with a horror novel, it’s even more important. It’s essential. You jump right in with what’s called a ‘hook.’ That’s something that will pull the reader into the story …
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