Breaking the Rules of Writing

By Janice Hardy, @Janice_Hardy

This week's Refresher Friday takes another look at breaking the rules of writing. Enjoy!

There are a lot of rules in writing. Some we need to follow to be understood, others are more like guidelines, and then there are those that have gotten lost in translation. Some are stated as if they were absolutes, such as "You should never use adverbs."

Another rule you hear a lot of: Once you know the rules, you can break the rules.

Yeah, okay, but how, why, and when is it a good idea? When are these "absolutes" not really so set in stone?

Producing Your Books in Audio Part Two: Auditions

By Angela Quarles, @AngelaQuarles

Part of the Indie Author Series

Last month, in Producing Your Books in Audio Part One: Should You? I covered some advice for determining whether getting into audio would be a smart move for you.

In today's topic, I'm going to cover some tips for getting the best auditions.

A Quick Way to Outline Without Outlining

By Janice Hardy, @Janice_Hardy

Some writers find outlining a daunting task that saps the joy and spontaneity out of writing. I’m not one of them, I love outlining, but I can understand the freedom of writing to see what happens. I don’t plan my characters, even though I do a lot of work on my plot. Letting a story develop organically is fun.

But sometimes, having no direction makes it harder to write that first draft. We flounder, we wander, we write into far too many dead ends and then we get frustrated.

If this sounds like you, try this little trick:

On Character Minutiae and Seemingly Irrelevant Details

By Bonnie Randall 

Part of the How They Do It Series (Monthly Contributor)

This meme floated over my Facebook feed the other day, and struck me for how true it was. So much of what’s incidental about people is revealed through their over-arching actions and dialogue—and vice-versa. I have written before on how knowing the minutiae of a character can lend to richer development of that person and their interactions within our stories, but I am also a firm believer that when we are stuck with where to go next in plot, we’re wise to go back to assessing the person our story is about, see what we’ve missed about their personality—because those pieces could well provide the direction we next need to go. After all, values, preferences, habits and quirks have far more influence than we think—even if they are not always visible to the naked eye.

Can You Be a Writeaholic?

By Janice Hardy, @Janice_Hardy

As you might imagine, I know a lot of writers—from those just starting to write all the way up to those with dozens of published books. Even though every writer is different in their own way, there are similarities and common ground regardless of career level.

One such area, is writing too much.

If you’re aghast at that statement, wondering how in the world someone could write too much, you might just be one of those writers.

Writing Prompt: The Story Starter: This Has to Change

By Janice Hardy, @Janice_Hardy

This week’s prompt is a story starter, so take the element provided and turn it into a story of any length you choose. If you’re stuck on size, I suggest aiming for 1000-2000 words.

Write about an old woman who realizes she has to make a drastic change—and does.

What that change is or how she does it is up to you.

Write in any genre you feel like. Run with whatever this triggers, and use these details however you wish. Put them together, use them separately, make one a detail in a scene, whatever inspires you—have fun with it.