How to Find Your Narrative Voice
Narrative voice is emotion coming through on the page—it’s passion, it’s opinion, it’s personality. Importantly, narrative voice can change depending on the story’s tone and the character’s perspective. Partially a deliberate choice by the author and partially subconscious, voice is an accumulation of what we read and watch, the culture we grew up in, the people we know, and our attitudes about the world. Voice can also be shaped through practice and attention. Here, I provid
How to Write Better Subplots
A subplot is “a secondary plot string that runs parallel to the main plot,” as ScreenCraft puts it. I invited fellow editor, book coach,...
Fantasy and Sci-Fi Worldbuilding Fundamentals
These fantasy and sci-fi worldbuilding fundamentals can act as the foundation of your story so you can start writing sooner rather than...
Quotidian Writer Episode 1: Starting New Writing Projects
Podcast Episode Medium Transcript What’s the most engaging way to start a story? How do you approach returning to an old project? Diane...
The Key to Great Storytelling
Countless elements contribute to great storytelling, but one in particular will strengthen your story’s potency on a character, plot,...
How to Write Engaging Descriptions in Fiction
Many writers dread writing descriptions. It’s difficult to know what to include, and it requires a lot of mental energy to summon...
How to Punctuate Dialogue
Incorrectly punctuated dialogue is one of the most frequent mistakes I see in manuscripts from writers who are just starting out....
Writing Q&A with Daily Prompt
I did a writing and editing Q&A with Daily Prompt over on their YouTube channel! We chatted about a smorgasbord of topics: + What makes...
4 Writing Lessons from a Novel Contest Judge
After judging novel openings for the Page Turner Awards this summer, I decided to write a Medium article filled with writing tips I...
Can You Be a Writer if You Don’t Read?
Can you be a writer if you don’t read? No one is stopping you from being a writer if you don’t read; however, if you truly want to be a...
How to Write a Strong Story Concept (Reverse Book Blurb Exercise)
A story concept is the general idea of what a story will be about in terms of the plot, characters, and setting. As a writing exercise,...
10 Common New Writer Mistakes (and How to Fix Them)
As a developmental editor and writer, I’ve noticed patterns in the types of problems new writers often face. This video covers ten of the...
