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.
This guest contribution is by author and historical fiction blogger M.K. Tod of A Writer of History. Mary provides valuable insights into the particular research required of the historical fiction writer, along with practical advice for sourcing the factual material that will help bring a bygone era to life in your novel.
British writer Roald Dahl is one of the most popular and beloved children’s authors in the English language. Writers can study his work to learn how to appeal to young and old and so create fiction for children that lasts.
The ability of Donna Tartt to generate suspense is one of the reasons she has as much popular success as she does critical acclaim. Writers can study her use of this element to see how she deploys it to turn her literary novels into page turners that exemplify the art of suspense.
Writing is almost always a labor of love, but sometimes that love falters. When you begin to forget what you ever enjoyed about writing in the first place, it’s still possible to restore a sense of joy to your work:
Writers may sometimes feel overwhelmed by the many aspects of fiction they must attend to when learning to write. Getting better at writing comes with practice, but you can also work on your craft consciously:
How do you keep motivated after the first draft of a book? Read tips to stay focused for the longer haul of revision and the path to publication:
To be an original writer, it’s important to learn how to avoid clichés. Many of the same themes are explored often in fiction without being reduced to clichés. You can do the same by understanding what the clichés of your genre are, and how to create your own, varied treatment:
Julia Cameron’s popular technique for getting into a state of flow with writing helps recover from creative blocks and setbacks. Learn more about the benefits for your writing process.
‘Chekhov’s Gun’ is a concept that describes how every element of a story should contribute to the whole. It comes from Anton Chekhov’s famous book writing advice: ‘If you say in the first chapter that there is a rifle hanging on the wall, in the second or third chapter it absolutely must go off. If it’s not going to be fired, it shouldn’t be hanging there.’
