February 2022 – Fluent in Author

Articles , Writing Tips

How to plot your novel: 9 Best Outlining Methods

For most authors, writing an outline is a crucial part of their novel writing process. Aside from guiding them along the plot itself, an outline can help with the pacing of the story, its character evolutions and even with keeping the author on track with their writing. But while most novelists will outline their novel, the way they do this may vary greatly. Some will spend very little time on their outline, while others will spend months and even years preparing theirs. What is a novel outline? A novel outline is the basis for a novel. It may contain information...

Articles , Writing Tips

Self-motivation: How to keep writing when things get hard

Time for a moment of harsh truth. Writing is difficult. It is time consuming, frustrating and even painful at times. It’s a long, solitary activity that, when done properly, requires that the author pours a part of themselves onto the page for the scrutiny of others. It also takes a long time to see any returns on that effort. For many, success is not guaranteed even after all the work that they have put into their project. This is the reason that so many authors quit before finishing a single project. Only an estimated 3% of aspiring novelists ever make...

Articles , Writing Tips

What is a Mary Sue and how to avoid creating one

Being accused of your main character being a Mary Sue is something that many authors dread. They will go to great lengths to avoid their character being labeled as such, often falling into the very pitfalls they are trying to avoid. And popular media, both in written format but also on the screen, does not escape that scrutiny. Some popular characters that are considered Mary Sues are Bella Swan from Twilight, Rey from Star Wars, Katniss Everdeen from The Hunger Games, and even James Bond and Harry Potter have been labeled as Mary Sues by some. What is a Mary...

Articles , Writing Tips

Show, don’t tell: an analysis

One of the first pieces of advice any novice author receives is “show, don’t tell”. But what does that actually mean? And why are the powers that be so insistent on drilling this piece of advice into all of our heads? “Show, don’t tell” is a short way of saying that you should take the space within your story to explore the feelings of characters, rather than outright naming them. Describing the effects that a feeling has on the character makes the reader empathize with them and immerses them further into the story. Conversely, stating the emotion brings a level...

Articles , Writing Tips

Murder your darlings: the phrase no writer wants to hear, but the advice all of us should take

Picture this: you have finally finished your novel and edited it and are now ready to hand it over to someone to review. A few weeks later they come back with several plot points that they think don’t quite fit the rest of the story, and “would you be willing to remove this part?”. Your immediately spring to your story’s defense. “But that’s one of the first things I wrote for this story,” you may say. Or “It’s so witty, it just has to stay”. Any reviewer worth their salt will then gently advise you that it’s time to murder...

Articles , Writing Tips

Plotting vs. Pantsing: which is better?

Whether you are just beginning your writing journey or have several books under your belt, plotting vs. pantsing is a question up for eternal debate among authors. But why? What does each method have to offer, and which of the two is better and, more importantly, the most efficient for busy writers such as yourself. In order to answer, first we have to look at what plotting and pantsing are. What is plotting? Plotting refers to a methodical style of preparation when it comes planning a story. Each story beat is arranged ahead of time, the ending fully figured out,...

Articles , Writing Tips

How to form a daily writing habit

Many of us (myself included!) have at some point in our writing journey struggled with the maintaining a daily writing habit. A full-time job, parenthood, and other obligations can often make it difficult to write on a schedule, which is the easiest way to form any habit. And yet, it is the single piece of advice that prolific authors agree upon. Writing daily brings results in the long run. So how can you begin to form you daily writing habit? In this article, I am happy to share with you the 5 tried and tested tips about how to form...