By Janice Hardy Sometimes we just need to ask the right questions to create a memorable character. Some writers develop incredibly detailed ...

By Reyna Marder Gentin Part of the How They Do It Series JH: It’s been a while since we’ve had a guest author, so I’m delighted to welcome...

By Janice Hardy A flat character can kill an otherwise good story. I was chatting with an editor of a publishing house who mentioned a...

By Janice Hardy Sometimes, we get so focused on what’s supposed to happen in our novel, we forget to consider what could happen. Unless you...

By Janice Hardy If you’re going to trick your readers, proceed with caution and a lot of skill. During a world-building panel I once did at...

By Janice Hardy If you dread starting a revision, you're not alone. But you can do this. Finishing a draft is a huge accomplishment,...

By Janice Hardy Just because a character says it, doesn’t mean it isn’t an infodump. Dialogue is one of my favorite parts of writing. It...

By Janice Hardy Be wary of going too far and turning a good sentence (or scene) into an overwritten mess.  The term "purple prose...

By Janice Hardy Hints are great, but be wary of making it too obvious what's going to happen in your novel. If you've ever watche...

By Janice Hardy You can learn a lot from the classics.  My husband and I are big silent movie fans (well, fans of movies in general, real...