When Word for Word Doesn’t Work
Navigating the Intricacies of Translating Your Books into a Foreign Language Grace Snoke As writers, we choose our words and phrases carefully. Sometimes we agonize over them. Whether it’s coming up with a title for a book, a character using slang and idioms you’re familiar with, or a turn of phrase used in describing a […]
The Magic of Disappearing Dialogue Tags
Best Practices for Writing and Formatting Dialogue Jackie Dana Ah, the humble dialogue tag. They are some of the most powerful tools in your author toolbox, helping your reader visualize a scene and who’s speaking, and often conveying subtle action. But despite their value in a story, they’re best when they’re not even noticed. Many […]
Breathing New Life into Your Backlist
A Guide to Cover Revitalization Eryka Parker The terms of independent publishing are ever-evolving as authors constantly seek ways to expand their readership. To secure shelf space among competitive titles in the marketplace, authors can benefit from exploring ways to rejuvenate their backlist catalog in order to boost sales. Although we’re cautioned against judging a […]
Nothing ‘Lucky’ about It
Does Your Story’s Main Character Have Enough Agency? Paul Austin Ardoin In one episode of the TV sitcom The Big Bang Theory, several of the characters get disappointed after they realize the hero of Raiders of the Lost Ark, Indiana Jones, does nothing to affect the outcome of the story. Though they love the movie, […]
Exploring the History Behind Three Idioms You May Be Using in Your Writing
Exploring the History Behind Three Common English Sayings As writers, we love to play with words. We twirl them around on our tongues and pop them out in various ways. Sometimes we cajole; other times we inspire or inform. We create jokes to entertain or puns that bring on groans. Occasionally, we use phrases we […]
Time for Show and Tell
Re-examining the Golden Rule of Fiction As authors, the adage to “show, not tell” has been etched into our minds by well-meaning teachers from grade school to university. It’s for good reason. Showing detail rather than explaining things outright invites the reader to step into your story world and experience a character’s actions and emotions […]
Three Ways to Up the Ante in Act 2
Sol Stein once said, “The function of suspense is to put the reader in danger of an overfull bladder.” When suspense is properly implemented in a story, the reader is taken by the hand and led to great peaks and thrown off mercilessly, only to have them scurry up the next hill for you to […]
Everything the Only Child Needs to Know to Write Realistic Siblings
Writing Realistic Stories about Siblings The author Leo Tolstoy famously wrote in his book Anna Karenina, “All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” I would change this to add that, whether happy or unhappy, all children are unique in their own way—but for children who grow up in […]
The Truth About Writing Trans Characters
Should You Write a Transgender Character If You Don’t Identify the Same Way? In 2017, the Cooperative Children’s Book Center (https://ccbc.education.wisc.edu) included LGBTQ+ content in its diversity data collection for the first time. Of the approximately 3,700 books it received that year, only 136 had significant LGBTQ+ content. Of this, four books had a trans […]
Hello, My Name Is …
Why Authors in Every Genre Need to Consider Their Characters’ Names Carefully A character’s name can often make or break a book. How well would Lord of the Rings have gone over if it had followed Legolas, Gandalf, Aragorn, Gimli, Boromir, and their hobbit companions Bob and Doug McHobbit? Tolkien’s editor might have had opinions. […]