Author: Jordan

Jordan Kantey is an editor, writer and writing workshop facilitator. He’s been helping authors develop their stories for ten years. He achieved his Honours in English Literature with distinction from the University of Cape Town. He has had poems published in several journals and an anthology. He blogs about writing craft and process at Now Novel and loves to help aspiring authors reach their goals.

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He has been interviewed about his writing, editing and coaching on YouTube.
He has also shared his writing skills on sites such as Writers helping writers.
In addition, he served as a judge for a number of awards. These include Page Turner Young Writer Award as well as the Elegant Literature’s Behind the Veil’s contest for new writers.
He showcased his writing talents with a five-star rated writing guide, How to Write Scenes: A Concise Guide to Scene Structure, which is available on Amazon.

Articles on the Now Novel blog:

Character writing Romance Writing

How to write romance that feels real

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Learning how to write romance that feels real is important if you want readers to believe your love story. Read the following tips on how to write chemistry, compatibility, complexity and other key elements of real relationships:

Tags writing a romance novel

Writing craft

Writing first lines: 100 bestsellers’ lessons

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When telling a story, your opening sentence needs to be catchy, so readers continue. The best first lines of books show us the common devices authors use to grab our curiosity. We analyzed 100 New York Times bestsellers’ first lines to share the following insights:

Tags learning from bestsellers, opening sentences

Character writing Narration

Creative points of view in character writing: 5 examples

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The different points of view – first, second and third person POV – each offer creative ways to convey your characters’ voices and personas. Read 5 tips with illustrative examples from novels:

Tags first person POV, how to create characters, point of view, POV, second person POV, third person POV

Character writing

Writing background characters: 5 uses

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In a novel, film or stage play, not every character needs to take center stage. Some characters play a minor role. Some add passing humour, obstacles, important advice or information. Read 5 ideas for writing background characters:

Writing advice Writing Motivation

88 inspiring quotes about writing a novel

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These 88 inspiring quotes about writing, divided into 8 categories, offer inspiration to finish writing a novel:

Tags editing, publishing, quotes, revising, story ideas

Writing tools

Google Docs add-ons for writers: 6 of the best

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Google Docs is already a useful free word processor. But these 6 Google Docs add-ons for writers will help you brainstorm, write and revise further:

Tags apps for writers, writing tools

Plotting

How do you write an outline for a novel? 7 easy steps

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Many authors enjoy the creative freedom of not having any structure to begin. Yet writing a story outline has many benefits. A flexible plan makes brainstorming ideas, finding possible character arcs and other parts of the writing process so much easier. Read seven simple steps to write an outline for a novel that will help you progress further:

Tags novel outlines

Scene writing

Writing scene endings: 6 ways to entice readers

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How you end a scene determines whether your reader will read another chapter immediately or not. Here are 6 tips for writing scene endings that entice readers to carry on (with examples):

Tags scene endings, writing scenes

Scene writing

Grabbing attention with scene beginnings: 5 tips

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Writing scene beginnings readers find compelling is a useful skill to develop. Here are 5 ways to write strong scene beginnings, with examples:

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