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Does Your Novel have Flavor?

Does Your Novel have Flavor?

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If you start with substandard ingredients your broth will be clear and your soup unflavorful and disgusting. You wouldn’t serve cold french fries and stale bread to your in-laws would you? (OK, don’t answer that!) Every stew begins with individual ingredients: stock, veggies, meat, herbs and seasonings, flour for thickening. These ingredients are similar to preparing your story: characters, location, conflict. It is the type of ingredients we choose and how they are combined that determines the quality of final…

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Writers Guide Series
“Show, Don’t Tell” by Sandra Gerth (Writers’ Guide Series)

“Show, Don’t Tell” by Sandra Gerth (Writers’ Guide Series)

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RECOMMENDED READING One of the hardest concepts to grasp for some writers is “Show, Don’t Tell.” A phrase heard but not necessarily understood. “Show, Don’t Tell: How to write vivid descriptions, handle backstory, and describe your characters’ emotions (Writers’ Guide Series) by Sandra Gerth is perfect for writers struggling to understand the concept. “Show, Don’t Tell” is succinct, to the point and easy to digest, covering only one part of the writing process. Showing puts the reader IN the action; allows the…

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A Writer is Like a Gardener

A Writer is Like a Gardener

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There is a lot of preparation required before planting: tilling the soil, pulling weeds, fertilizing. Once the groundwork is done (outline, research), then comes the planting of seeds — a lot of seeds — more than are needed for a healthy garden. I know that not all seeds I plant will take root. Some will be healthy, others weak and thin. And I can’t just stare at it every day, waiting and watching for the plants to grow. Instead, I walk…

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My Writing Formula

My Writing Formula

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If you ask a writer how to write a novel, you’ll hear a dozen different answers. From note cards to outlines. I tried them all and each time I felt bogged down, stuck. In fact, I got lost in the quagmire of paper. I felt like I was preparing for a full-scale invasion rather than writing a story. I kept hearing the words, “Just get it down.” I didn’t understand what that meant until I did it. Earlier this year…

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Family Legacy: Organization, Please

Family Legacy: Organization, Please

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I am a lot like my father. I didn’t realize it until today. In 1986, my father took pen to paper (literally) and wrote down one of the many bedtime stories we enjoyed as children. He painstakingly hand wrote, revised and edited, while my mother obligingly typed. Each revision, change and typed page was labeled and stored in a file folder. When polished, he mailed Mountain Adventure to publishers, only to receive rejections. So, the book was placed in a…

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