Now Novel
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.
Strong character description is key to creating vivid and realistic characters. We may be tempted to reach first for obvious elements of physical description, such as eye and hair color. Yet strong imagery tells us more about a character’s personality, quirks, strengths and flaws. To avoid weak character description:
Narration and narrative are two key terms in writing fiction. Read on to learn what narrative is, as well as five types of narrative, with examples:
We’ve written about how to structure a chapter generally, writing good opening paragraphs and pages, and developing Chapter One’s intrigue in your second chapter. Writing a good third chapter is equally important. Your early chapters hook readers and build interest you can sustain. Read ideas and tips to write the best third chapter you can, along with examples from books that show effective story development:
In learning how to write a rough draft, there’s no one-size-fits-all approach that suits every writer equally. This being said, writing a story draft as quickly as possible helps. Working quicker for the first pass helps to keep you from becoming discouraged or losing interest in your story idea. If you need to speed up your first draft, try a few of these tactics and see which ones help you progress faster:
What makes a fantasy story? Our first instinct might be to answer ‘magic’ – spells, mythical beasts, potions. Yet fantasy contains multiple key elements. Read the following simple breakdown of elements of the fantasy genre and tips to write magical, fantastical tales:
Online writing courses and workshops have many pros. Improving your writing without having to commute to meet-ups. Completing courses at your own pace and being able to fit when you engage around your own schedule. Use these tips to get the most from the next writing course you enroll in:
It’s difficult to keep writing when motivation wavers. Persistence is a key characteristic that separates prolific authors from writers who never finish. Try these simple writing hacks to boost your productivity and keep your motivation to write strong:
External conflicts in fiction – conflicts between characters and outside sources rather than inner battles – are an important part of storytelling. ‘Man vs society’ (or, rather, person vs society) is a conflict authors often use to explore society and culture. It explores the ways individual people’s deeds, beliefs and desires contradict the social mores surrounding them.
If you want to make the big time, learn how to write a series. Why? Because once readers are hooked on book one and know that books two through four are on the way, you’ll have a captive, invested book audience. These 10 tips for writing series will help you plan an intriguing, addictive multi-novel story arc:
