From the very beginning, I knew that I wanted my novel Dark City to have a very strong sense of place. I wanted the city to be alive, like Camorr or The Shire or Sin City in the graphic novel series. I wanted my book to have a noir aesthetic, a kind of Gotham vibe. … Continue reading How to make a setting come alive
Recently, I started studying Spanish again for the first time in six or so years. Maybe it's that I want to reclaim my Latina heritage, or maybe volunteering for a Latino serving non-profit organization has inspired me. Or likely, a little bit of both. Whatever it is, I've felt very drawn to studying the language. … Continue reading Why learning a second language is good for writers
My novel Dark City (which you can read about here) is reaching the final stages. That means that right now, I’m waiting for a few beta readers to get back to me before I jump into the last round of edits. While I’m waiting, I’d like to start a new project, but I’m struggling to … Continue reading Finding the inspiration to start your novel
Even outside of the time I spend with my fingers on the keyboard, I do a lot of thinking about my characters. I’ve become the stereotypical “head in the clouds” writer who might walk right into you at the grocery store because my mind is on my stories. And most of all, on the characters … Continue reading Fun ways to build characters
This post is the second in a series on writing effective character descriptions. In the first post, I studied a passage from Jim Butcher’s novel Storm Front. Today, I’ll be doing a careful reading of a character description from Patrick Rothfuss’s The Name of the Wind. This excerpt is from near the beginning, and describes the … Continue reading How to describe characters: The Name of the Wind
Every writer gets the blues from time to time. You know what I mean: the pervasive feeling that what you’re writing isn’t any good. Even the best writers suffer from this ailment from time to time. Self doubt is part of the process but that doesn’t mean it’s fun. When I start to really struggle … Continue reading How to overcome the writing blues
NaNoWriMo stands for National Novel Writing Month, and refers to a group of over 300,000 writers who engage in a yearly writing endeavor, the goal of which is to write 50,000 words in a month. Although the word count is the flashiest thing about NaNo, it’s really a way to celebrate stories and writing, and … Continue reading How to NaNo like a boss in 5 easy steps
Writing characters with mental illnesses can be a challenge. Authors must do some amount of research to be sure they’re representing the experience in a compassionate, honest, and believable way. Here are five things to keep in mind when writing mental illness. 1. Avoid a magical recovery Books and movies about mental illness often end the same … Continue reading 4 pitfalls to avoid when writing about mental illness
Instead of dissecting the symbolism and thematic significance of a poem, this series is meant to be a practical discussion of what fiction writers can learn from poetry. Because a poem uses so few words, each word must be meaningful and carefully chosen to have the impact the poet desires. In The Love Song of … Continue reading Portraying character in fiction: Lessons from J. Alfred Prufrock
Creating effective character descriptions can be difficult. You can bore the reader with too much description, but if it’s used effectively, it can be a powerful tool. In this example, Jim Butcher uses character description to build tension, illuminate his characters, set a consistent tone for the novel, and tell us about the protagonist. This … Continue reading How do I write effective character descriptions? (part 1)
Sarah Kay Moll 