Tips For New Writers
Ruth Ann Nordin
Language: English
Pages: 25
ISBN: 2:00273280
Format: PDF / Kindle (mobi) / ePub
The goal of writing fiction should be to tell a story so compelling the reader has a hard time putting the book down. Over the course of eight years and forty-six romances, Ruth Ann Nordin has picked up some practical tips for improving the storytelling craft. Topics included in this short book are genre, character, setting, backstory, point of view, and encouragement.
estranged father and mother, their romance, and their happy ending, then you’re doing a romance. If a crime’s been committed and the father is called in to deal with it, you might be dealing with a thriller or mystery. If his daughter was abducted by aliens or in a genetic experiment or he’s going into a parallel universe, you’re dealing with science fiction. If he finds himself going to another world with magic, you’re dealing with fantasy. If the magic is on this world, it’s urban fantasy.
that they’ll like your book. The Proper Use of Backstory The beginning of the book not only sets the stage for the rest of the story, but it also builds a relationship between the main character and the reader. So this is not the time for backstory. Backstory should come later in the book. In my opinion, backstory is one of the hardest things to figure out when you’re a new writer. There’s a temptation to mention everything to the reader right away. Part of this stems from figuring out who the
driving on the interstate). So what I try to do in these situations is play the idea out as a movie in my mind to help me remember it. Let’s say this is my idea: I want to write a story about a married couple who are seriously thinking about getting a divorce, but they hesitate to because of their daughter. From there, you brainstorm smaller ideas to go with this main one. Like this: Perhaps, the husband is a work-a-holic, and the wife feels neglected. Maybe she was tempted to cheat but didn’t,
new. You are learning about the characters and the world. It’s easy to have tons of energy at this stage. But suddenly, you lose your enthusiasm for the story. Press through it. I get bored at the 20,000-word mark in almost every story I write. But when I get to the 35,000-word mark, things get easier (and more exciting) again. You just have to do it. There is no magic formula. Stay focused and keep on writing, even if you can only manage a couple hundred words that day. Sometimes you can set a
minutes.) There is no secret formula. You just have to sit down and write whenever you can. If you can do a schedule and make it work, that’s awesome. I’m not able to do it, but I would if I could. My point is, it’s possible to write in small chunks of time and even when real life distractions creep in. 3. Set aside periods of rest. If you’re in this for the long haul, you need to pace yourself to avoid burn out. Some say serious writers write every single day. But I’m going to give you