🎉 NowNovel has a new look! Allow us to introduce ourselves.
How to make dialogue in writing carry your story
Dialogue in writing is tricky to master, but good dialogue carries the story. Dialogue may build pace and conflict, add tone and atmosphere, introduce and develop characters and more. Here are 5 tips to make your dialogue serve multiple useful purposes: Making dialogue in writing drive your s...
June 29th, 2020
Read post...
How to write a biography: 7 life-writing ideas
Biography - literally 'life writing' - poses a variety of challenges. Balancing historical narration and day-to-day incident, for example. Or choosing what to include and what to leave out. Read 7 ideas on how to write a biography, with examples from biographical writing: 7 life-writing ideas...
July 15th, 2020
Read post...
The dinkus: 6 uses for scene breaks
The dinkus - a a typographic symbol between story or essay sections - is a source of confusion to many writers. To use, or not to use? What is a dinkus actually for? Read a definition of the dinkus, plus 6 ideas on creative ways to use them: Scene break markers: When to use a dinkus What ...
July 20th, 2020
Read post...
Dialogue 101: Using dialogue tags vs action tags
How do you show who's speaking in dialogue? When do you use 'she said'? When do you not? How else can you show a person's emotions or state of mind in conversation? Read definitions clarifying the uses of dialogue tags vs action tags, and examples that illustrate effective dialogue attribution: ...
August 3rd, 2020
Read post...
Story openings: 10 lessons from hits of the 2000s
How do you write story openings that engage readers from page one? We look at the beginning paragraphs of books Literary Hub listed as defining books of the 2000s. What do they reveal about writing strong beginnings? 10 insights from the openings of the 2000s' defining novels: Share intri...
August 17th, 2020
Read post...
Making external conflict compelling: 6 ideas
External conflict is conflict a character faces that is outside themselves, rather than inner struggle. For example, a sibling rivalry, an oppressive society versus its lone challenger, or the conflict between a town battling for survival and a freak weather event. How do you make external confl...
August 24th, 2020
Read post...
Tone in writing: How do you build a novel's tone?
Tone in writing refers to a complex mix of attributes. The mood, register, attitudes and other values conveyed through details such as word choice, sentence structure and the speaker or narrator's attitude to their subject. Read examples of tone in writing that show what creates tone in a no...
August 31st, 2020
Read post...
Writing exercises: 10 fun tense workouts
'What exercises can I do to improve my writing craft?' Writing often and reading a lot are common answers given to this question. Writing exercises targeting specific aspects of craft help too. Dip into these fun, practical writing workouts on using tenses correctly: General tips on tense use...
September 14th, 2020
Read post...
Short story structure: Shaping successful stories
Writing short stories provides a stepping stone to conquering larger story forms. Short story structure is easier to see due to brevity. Learn how to structure stories, with examples by a master of the form: What is a short story? A short story is any piece of fiction too short to be class...
October 5th, 2020
Read post...
How to write an autobiography: 7 key steps
Many people who've lived interesting lives want to learn how to write an autobiography. Whether you want to write a memoir or a fictional autobiography, these 7 steps will help you start: What is autobiography? Autobiography means to write about yourself, typically the account of significa...
October 26th, 2020
Read post...
Writing skills: How to improve yours 10 ways
Writing skills: How to improve them, make your writing sing? It takes knowing the canvas of grammar, plus having the many colours, brushes and techniques of a robust vocabulary and imagination. Try these 10 ways to get better: Level up your writing skills: How to improve now Use top resou...
November 2nd, 2020
Read post...
How to write the middle of a story: 9 tips
Writing the middle of a novel has its own unique challenges. You need to develop your story further after your engrossing start and set in place the build to the end. The curse of the 'saggy middle' can't take hold. Read 9 tips on how to write the middle of a story and get it right: How to wr...
April 26th, 2021
Read post...
