Writing Archives | Page 5 of 6

Cozy mysteries have been popular since the days of Agatha Christie. Readers enjoy these stories that are a subgenre of the traditional mystery. Detective stories, police procedurals, and courtroom dramas also fall under the mystery umbrella. In a traditional mystery, there’s a murder that must be solved. Missing persons or theft are other possibilities, as long as they present a puzzle for read…

We’ve all heard the widely accepted advice given to authors who want to succeed in today’s crowded fiction space: write a series, stick to popular genres and sub-genres, and target a wide audience. This all make perfect sense and has yielded enviable levels of success for many authors. But sometimes going for the widely popular just isn’t the path for us, and deciding to go a niche route is a v…

George Orwell was a big liar. So was George Elliot. And Dean Koontz. And all three of those nefarious Brontë sisters. And Mark Twain. And Agatha Christie. And George Sand. And Nora Roberts, of course. And that most insidious of liars, Dr. Seuss. So was Jane Austen, though to a lesser extent. When Austen’s novel Sense and Sensibility came out in 1811, the phrase “By a Lady” was printed in place …

In today’s fast-paced society, it’s extremely common to shorten or truncate language in order to get a message across quickly and efficiently. We can see this penchant for abbreviation in things like the 250-character tweet or text messages filled with linguistic acronyms meant to convey broad meanings with as few letters as possible. While code-switching can truncate language, it is much more …

As a writer you will know that the key to memorable, engaging fiction is believable characters that readers can relate to. But how can you dig deep into your characters to make sure that they are as real to your reader as they are to you? In this article I will take you through why developing an understanding of core values can help strengthen your characterisation and improve motivation and co…

Writing faster seems to be something that is dominating the conversation around writing lately. Like many of you I’ve been a working writer for 25 years and have had more than 100 books published. I’ve always been a “quick” writer compared to others. When I first started writing I heard comments about how I was “churning out books,” which made me try for one book to slow down my writing process…