Category Archives: fiction

Book Review – Your Novel: Day by Day

Posted on December 5, 2012 by loubelcher

I wrote the following review for the Amazon page for this book. Thought I would share it here since the book has so much to do with our topic of what to do before you write. Enjoy! My novel isn’t … Continue reading →

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Re-write then re-write again…

Posted on October 2, 2012 by loubelcher

I’ve found that the beginning of a book always needs to be re-written more times than the sections toward the end. Have you found that also? When I first started to write, it bothered me a great deal that my … Continue reading →

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Give each character an indiividual voice.

Posted on August 29, 2012 by loubelcher

Part of this thing we call voice in a novel results from the words we put in our characters’ mouths. One goal is to ensure your characters do not all sound the same. In English class, we are taught to … Continue reading →

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Updating a Novel

Posted on August 8, 2012 by loubelcher

I wrote a mystery/suspense novel  quite a few years back. I wasn’t satisfied with the plot at the time, and I couldn’t quite hit on the right solution to what was bothering me.  Recently, I thought I might drag out … Continue reading →

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Don’t stop the action

Posted on July 6, 2012 by loubelcher

Your story must always be moving forward. Even when you use flashbacks, they must help to move your story forward. It’s a point that is difficult for people to understand. When I am editing a piece of fiction, I am … Continue reading →

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Hit on all the senses when writing fiction

Posted on June 26, 2012 by loubelcher

Before you write, it’s good to practice writing about all the senses: touch, smell, taste, vision and hearing. If you add these descriptors to your writing, it’ll help the readers sink down into your novel as if they were additional … Continue reading →

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How do you tell your story?

Posted on May 11, 2012 by loubelcher

In the last post, we talked about story development and where you get your story ideas.  Once you’ve chosen an idea and a setting for your story, one of the things you must determine is how you will go about … Continue reading →

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Story Development… where do you get your stories?

Posted on May 8, 2012 by loubelcher

I used to think that writers needed to travel far and wide and to fill their lives with adventure in order to write compelling fiction. I’m not so sure that is entirely true. To be a writer, you obviously need … Continue reading →

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Character Development

Posted on April 7, 2012 by loubelcher

When writing a novel, full-bodied characters will do more to add believability to your story than anything. They will bring your story to life. Your characters will jump off the pages if you know them inside and out. So, put … Continue reading →

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Be Specific – choose your words carefully.

Posted on March 12, 2012 by loubelcher

When you’re writing a first draft of a story or novel, it’s fine to write fast and just get the story or idea down. If you can’t think of a particular word., then substitute the more generalized form of it … Continue reading →

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