Four Ways to Get Your Setting Right – Even If You Haven’t Been There

travel writing old-1130735_960_720It’s hard enough to write about a place you know well. What do you do when your story takes place somewhere you’ve never been?

Let’s say you have a great idea for a novel set in Granada, Spain, but you’ve never been outside the USA. How do you make the setting realistic? More to the point, how do you keep from making the sort of gaffe that will make readers who have been there throw your book across the room?

Fortunately, we have suggestions. Check these out: Continue reading “Four Ways to Get Your Setting Right – Even If You Haven’t Been There”

World Building In Fiction

about_usAll writing requires a setting, something to connect that writing to. In the case of technical or scientific writing the setting will be the program, research, or piece of machinery you wish to explain. In the case of non-fiction it will be based on a real place and time.

My particular interest is in the writing of fiction. Why? Because that’s what I do. That’s what I know best. Continue reading “World Building In Fiction”

The Essentials of Writing Great Horror

Guest post
by Caroline Gebbie

“The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown.” H P Lovecraft

Since we first gathered around campfires we have told stories to elicit emotion and one of the most basic emotions is fear. Writing great horror is about invoking that fear in the reader, it can be done in much the same way as you would elicit other emotions in any story. The elements you need to create that feeling of horror include characters, plot, setting, point of view conflict and theme. Continue reading “The Essentials of Writing Great Horror”

Do Your Readers Make It Past Chapter One?

Chapter One.

Probably the most rewritten chapter of any book I put together. Why do I stress so much about it? Well, it’s a make or break chapter. In those first few pages, I can either win my readers over or lose them forever. So how do we make sure our readers make it past chapter one?

Here are some of the things I’ve learned so far: Continue reading “Do Your Readers Make It Past Chapter One?”