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:

Plotting

Subplot ideas: 5 tips for writing better subplots

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6 Comments on Subplot ideas: 5 tips for writing better subplots

What is a subplot? It’s a secondary plot in a novel, play or movie. Subplots are the additional minor arcs that help develop characters, themes and settings. Read 5 tips for writing subplots, including useful examples of subplots from books:

Writing romantic scenes and fight scenes: 6 parallels

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2 Comments on Writing romantic scenes and fight scenes: 6 parallels

Writing romantic scenes between lovers and writing fight scenes (between lovers or heroes and villains) might sound miles apart. Yet both share common important elements:

Tags story scenes, writing infographic

Writing description

Choosing description words: 10 questions to ask

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4 Comments on Choosing description words: 10 questions to ask

There are endless ways to describe someone, from physical description to verbal tics, personal views and more. Here are 10 questions to ask about your description words to help you make your writing vivid:

Tags description, writing infographic, writing style

Writing action Writing Genres

Writing an action story: 8 tips for strong pacing

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‘Action’ and ‘pacing’ are two crucial elements in all stories, particularly in action/adventure and mystery/thriller novels. Knowing how to write action well keeps your tale engaging and fun. Here are 8 tips to help you pace your action story:

Tags action, pace

Plotting Story Development

How to master plot development: 8 steps

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12 Comments on How to master plot development: 8 steps

Plot development means ensuring that your novel contains what makes stories enjoyable to read: Action and event, change, wonder and surprise. Here’s how to improve your plot-writing skills

Tags plot, plot development

Character writing Writing Process

Character profiles: 5 questions for a detailed cast

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Character profile writing is a useful way to build a rounded idea of your characters. Knowing your characters’ appearance and persona inside out makes scenes practically write themselves, sometimes, when you bring characters together. To create a character profile, ask these 5 questions and write summary answers with simple headings (e.g. ‘name’, ‘main goal’):

Tags character profiles, Story planning

Character writing Writing description

How to describe hands: 6 ways to make characters real

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5 Comments on How to describe hands: 6 ways to make characters real

Describing hands is useful for showing characters’ psychological traits and personality, age and more. Many amateur writers stop at describing eye colour or how characters say their dialogue. Yet there are many different physical details you can use to show a character’s nature. Read examples that show how to describe hands in such a way that your writing is rich and detailed

Tags character description, how to describe hands, writing characters

Story Structure

Novel structure: 7 tips for structuring your book

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6 Comments on Novel structure: 7 tips for structuring your book

Understanding how to structure a novel makes your story easier and more satisfying to read. Good structure creates plot clarity and cohesion. Read 7 tips for how to structure your book, including story structure examples from accomplished novels:

Tags novel structure, three-act structure

Writing description

Examples of adjectives from top authors’ novels

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Adjectives – words that describe nouns or pronouns – add specificity and detail to writing. The literal definition of adjective is ‘throw towards’, from the Latin prefix ad- (towards) and the verb jacere (throw). That’s what great describing words do: They ‘throw’ readers into your fictional world; let them see, hear, taste it. Read adjective examples from works by esteemed authors that show how to be creative with your descriptions:

Tags adjectives, description, parts of speech

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