On Writing – Page 6 – Liana Brooks

Archive by category "On Writing" (Page 6)

Plotting With Amy Laurens & Liana Brooks – Part 1

FROM LIANA: Back at the end of September I dropped off the grid for a week and was posting pictures of this other person, that was because Amy flew from Australia to Alaska to visit me. We’re basically twins, except we don’t share parents, genes, nationality, or birthdays… but we…

The Gift of Failure

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…

Write Opening Chapters That Get Read #LianaEdits

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…

Find Balance (a repost from 2009)

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…

There Is No Muse. Sit Down And Write.

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…

Take a Nap!

You know me, any excuse for a few minutes of peace and quiet is a good one. Sleep researchers have been working for years to explain the benefits of napping. Does this scenario sound familiar… You’ve been at the computer for three hours straight. Between checking e-mail, balancing the checkbook,…

Good Writing Advice For Any Day (a repost from 2010)

Every now and then (about chapter 15 of every novel) I get bogged down in the details. Somehow I become physically unable to let any minute of my character’s life go unaccounted. I become a secret stalker documenting their every move. FMC woke up, took three steps, found her purple…

Quantity Creates Quality

Everyone knows the story of the pottery class divided in two groups… one was graded by how many pots they made, the other half was graded on how good the pot was. Inevitably, the students who were creating for quantity created better quality pots. Why? Because the more you do…

Sustainable Extra-Solar Living – Apex Predators and More! (repost)

Continuing last week’s post on sustainable living, definitions and why they pertain to writing. Biomass Majority Why you need these: This is my own term for all the creatures that fall in the center of the food web in an ecosystem. They aren’t at the bottom, but they aren’t at the…

Sustainable Extra-Solar Living (repost)

A few weeks back we set the definitions for an ecosystem. Now it’s time to look at some of the elements that you need to make a self-sustained society, city, or planet. Keep in mind that this is for writing purposes. As the author, you’re creating these elements. You can…