• How to Pick the Right Title for Your Book

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    The moment has finally arrived: you’ve finished writing the book you’ve dreamed of and labored over devotedly. Now the time has come to brand it with a title and send it out into the world. But what will you call it? How can just a few words embody everything about your glorious book? Fear not, for we have a few fail-proof tips that can help you get started on the journey of picking a concise and catchy title for your book. Hook the Reader You want the title to be something epic and unforgettable. It should jump out at readers…

  • Writing Strong Female Characters

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    In an age of Women’s Marches and calls for equal pay for women, the question of femininity and what makes a strong woman is in the spotlight. Art reflects life, and the presence of strong female characters in fiction is in high demand, as girls and women alike look for characters to read about and emulate, from Elizabeth Bennet to Laura Ingalls Wilder to Hermione Granger. So how can you ensure that your work includes strong female characters? For that matter, what is a strong female character? Strong female characters are not perfect. Strong characters, regardless of gender, have character flaws…

  • Creating Steady Flow in Dialogue

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    People like to talk, and if you listen to some everyday conversations you will hear some common patterns: lots of “like” and “um”, pointless repetition, interjections of completely unrelated topics, and unfinished or incomplete sentences. This is all fine in real life but would never work in your writing—and this is the core of why capturing dialogue that feels authentic but completes its purpose is so difficult. Whether you are writing your memoir or a fictional novel, these tips will help your dialogue flow and feel more finished. 1. Cut Out the Day-to-Day All dialogue must move the story forward,…

  • Describing Characters: What You Are Doing Wrong?

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    Everyone wants to write characters who feel like living, breathing people. After all, that is how readers connect with them, feel for them, and eventually love or hate them—our ultimate goal. Whether you are trying to adequately describe real people, like your parents in your autobiography, or you are creating characters from scratch, such as in a fictional narrative, there are some common mistakes you should avoid. Mistake #1: Simply Listing Their Characteristics This is probably the comment I leave the most on manuscripts I am editing. Specific physical description is important, but it should also tell us something about…