By Michaela Whatnall World-building is an essential part of writing any novel, be it fantasy, sci-fi, or even realistic fiction. The world which your characters inhabit must come alive for the reader in order to be believable and compelling. And it’s clear when...
On Sunday, May 1, I had the pleasure of presenting a workshop at GrubStreet’s Muse & the Marketplace conference. Here’s a snippet of what it was about: “Character” refers to the people in your book and keeping them real in word,...
By Hannah Andrade As a resident of San Diego, I dislike anything that slows my rate of travel. Traffic is a blight to the sunny beaches and, when the roads are clear, I take full advantage. Anything that causes me to press the brake pedal are irritants. Pot...
By Laura Nsafou In the long discussion of diversity in literature, the focus is on the characters and their unique perspectives. Many writers pay so much attention to the personas within their story that they end up neglecting one of the biggest indicators of...
How to Tighten Your Manuscript By Michaela Whatnall Revision comes with many challenges, but there is one that can be particularly hard to face—cutting down your manuscript. As a writer, you’ve spent months, maybe years, getting your words onto the page, only...