Yes, I know it’s now February, but it’s still early in the year! Also, congrats if one of your resolutions for the year was to write more, and you’ve made it this far.
There are many writing resources and articles out there. Here are a few that may help you with your next novel, broken down by theme.
Conflict and Tension
- “5 Ways to Create Strong Internal Conflict” on Live. Write. Thrive. Includes making a character contradict their belief system, give a character a crisis of conscience, and let a character’s fear sway their judgment.
- “Cliffhangers – A Good Idea or Not?” on Jennifer Ellis. Includes types of endings, issues with endings, and how to handle endings well.
Characters
- “A Look at Masterful Character Description” on Live. Write. Thrive. Includes questions to ask when thinking about describing a character in a scene.
- “Most Common Writing Mistakes: Characters Who Lack Solid Story Goals” on Helping Writers Become Authors. Includes different types of goals, such as scene, life, and plot.
- “Are you overusing character names in your novel?” on Lisa Poisso. Includes tips about keeping things simple with pronouns and nouns, using commas, and thinking of what characters would call other characters.
- “Unveiling your characters: Physical description with style” on The Parlour. Includes choosing what to tell, the space to use, and the point of view.
Scenes and Themes
- “Fiction Secrets: 4 Tips to Write and Get Readers” on Fab Freelance Writing. Includes writing in scenes.
- “Masterful Narrative Scenes in Novels” on Live. Write. Thrive. Includes an example of a strong narrative scene.
- “Want a Powerful Theme for Your Novel? Play Devil’s Advocate!” on Helping Writers Become Authors. Includes why themes are sometimes uncomfortable and how to convince readers of your theme.
Style
- “Humor and Critique: Don’t Go Bonkers Writing Funny Stuff” on Book Echoes. Includes choosing your critique partners and beta readers well.
- “Writing: Why the Prologue Deserves a Place in Modern Indie Fiction” on ALLi. Includes the benefits of the prologue and how prologues are used in cinema.
- “Dialogue tags and how to use them in fiction writing” on The Parlour. Includes why “said” works the best, showy speech tags, and alternatives.
Other Writing Tips
- “How to use video writing sprints to make writing fun again” on Fiction Alchemy. Includes making writing fun again and software options.
- “1 Simple Tip To Help You Get More Writing Done” on Bang 2 Write. Includes examples of “dead” time and thinking about your story.
- “The Epic 4,000-Word Guide to Differentiating Yourself as a Writer” on Medium. Includes why you should write, how to outstrip your competition, and steps to a viral post.
- “Writing: The Importance of Getting the Facts Right in Your Fiction” on ALLi. Includes drawing on experience.
- “Blog a Short Book During National Book Blogging Month” on How to Blog a Book. Includes ideas for what to blog.
- “3 Piracy Protection Tactics for Writers” on Write Hacked. Includes reporting the content, contacting hosts, and reaching out.
- “New Life for Old Classics, as Their Copyrights Run Out” on The New York Times. Includes examples of classics that are now in public domain and can be repurposed.
- “Public Domain Day 2019” on Duke Law. Includes a list of films, books, and movies that went into public domain on January 1, 2019.
