Direct and Indirect Narrative The difference between direct and indirect narrative is pretty straightforward. Direct narrative is basically describing everything in a scene, including all the action and detail. For example, say you’re writing a scene about pitcher throwing the winning strike in the game. Direct narrative allows you to describe everything from what the pitcher is feeling and seeing to how he pitches...
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Divas Recommend: Slushy Glut Slog The actual title of the article has one of those four-letter words in it, but if you don’t read what Chuck Wendig is saying about self-publishing, then you’re missing out. Check it out! Why The Self-Publishing Sh*t Volcano is a Problem

Today’s guest blogger is author and businesswoman N. Isabelle Blanco, whom I had the absolute pleasure of meeting this past weekend at the Authors in the City event in NYC. Finding Your Voice: Writing in First Person (or Third) by N. Isabelle Blanco No, no, no, and no. LOL, okay, I agree, some authors are a “one-voice” type of writer and should stick to one...
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Real Character Flaws We’ve all heard the old adage “no one’s perfect,” right? Let’s consider the flip side of this coin. What if everyone was perfect? Can you imagine it? A perfect world where everything goes your way and everyone is the absolute ideal? There are no struggles, nothing unexpected happens, and life is just perfect. Sounds great, right? Not really. There is a downside. Without struggles...
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Breaking Free From the Staging Trap Have you ever watched a couple of children play with Barbie Dolls? There’s quite an interesting and humorous thing that happens when the Barbies and Kens emerge. The children playing with them tend to narrate the motions, emotions, thoughts, discourse, and actions of their dolls—just like an author would with their characters. These children are so meticulous they...
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Accents and Dialects Who doesn’t love listening to an accent or an entertaining dialect, especially one delivered by a sexy model or actor? Accents and dialects make people more interesting, probably because the sound is interesting to listen to and offers a fresh perspective to the words being spoken. It also adds another layer to the character, makes them feel authentic, and gives clues...
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