Jordan K

Contributor

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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Recent posts

Writing conversations using setting (examples)

Writing conversations that don't involve setting is like writing action scenes that don't involve movement. Great dialogue has more than disembodied voices. It anchors us in a place, in the context that occasions characters' interaction. Read tips for creating realistic dialogue by involving you...

October 8th, 2018

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Realistic dialogue: Creating characters' speech patterns

Realistic dialogue moves stories along. When you give each character an interesting voice and persona, it's a joy to read their conversations. Varied, entertaining speech takes readers into the heart of your characters. Remember, too, that dialogue is crafted speech, and doesn't have to be e...

September 27th, 2018

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Writing tense dialogue: 5 ways to add arresting tension

Writing tense dialogue is effective in making characters' conversations interesting. When every exchange is a pleasantry or obvious observation, dialogue doesn't do the work it can to move a story along. Tense dialogue, whether an argument between colleagues, lovers, or hero and villain, adds a ...

September 17th, 2018

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Writing coach advice: 8 things I learned writing my debut

This is a guest contribution by Alyssa Hollingsworth, a writing coach at Now Novel whose debut The Eleventh Trade is out this month with Macmillan in the US and HotKey in the UK. About the same time I began working for Now Novel as a writing coach, my literary agent Amber Caravéo asked t...

September 12th, 2018

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How to write mystery: 6 ways to create suspense

Learning how to write mystery is easy when you understand the ingredients of mystery and suspense. Every good story has unknowns readers want answered, yet a good mystery makes us need to know. Here are 6 ways to create suspense and build mystery: First, what are mystery and suspense? ...

September 3rd, 2018

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10 dialogue tips to hook readers

Understanding how to write dialogue in a story enables you to bring characters to life using their individual voices. Great dialogue moves your story along at a good pace, giving your reader a break from non-stop narrative prose. Try these dialogue tips for writing effective speech: How to us...

August 30th, 2018

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