Originally published on Savvy Authors in 2015. Back when I had just started writing with the intent to publish, around 2006, I printed out a copy of my very first novel and shared it with a friend who had a good taste for books. She was the kind of friend…
On Twitter I’m making general editing notes under the hashtag #LianaEdits so I can point out errors I see repeated over multiple books (sometimes even in published books – yikes!) One of the most common problems I see are opening chapters that don’t get the story started. Opening chapters cannot…
When someone says the word ‘balance’ we tend to think of checkbooks or standing on one foot. It doesn’t conjure up an immediate image of writing, probably because writers usually say “pace” or “plot element” and the word balance doesn’t enter into the equation. I want to change that today…
I’ll be honest, I’ll believe in fairies before I will in muses. I may have had a muse, back when I was in fourth grade or so, and then I locked it down in the dungeon chained to a wall and let it die. It’s skeleton is right next to…