Tag: novel writing

• Giving Characters their Voice

  Character voice is a subtle art. Certainly, it a bit of a chaotic one. You have to know enough about them to know what they might say in a particular situation, and if you think that’s not terribly hard, then bring to mind a person you know very well. A sister, a parent, a best…

  Katie Bachelder

  September 29, 2018

  Uncategorized

  character development, character voice, dialogue, first person PoV, internal dialogue, novel writing, voice

• The Problem With Libraries

  For as long as I’ve been writing, people have been telling me what reading strategies they think I should follow to make me a better writer. Well, it’s always fun when someone with little to no writing experience tries to tell you how to become a better writer, but the question they raised is still…

  Katie Bachelder

  September 15, 2018

  Uncategorized

  Fantasy, genre, Graceling, Kristin Cashore, libraries, Lord of the Rings, novel writing, reading, subgenre, Tolkien, writing

• 7 Things Aspiring Authors Should Know about Plotting

  Or: A Beginner’s Guide to my Builder’s Theory Number 1: Pantsing vs. Plotting is not a useful way to determine how to write your book. Think of it this way: a book cannot be written in a single draft. As you write and go through several different drafts, your novel will go through various changes,…

  Katie Bachelder

  September 1, 2018

  For Writers: Builder’s Theory

  aspiring author, character development, draft zero, Lord of the Rings, novel writing, pantser, plotter, plotting, world-building, writing

• Destroy the Concept of Pantsers

  My vehemence may shock you, but I promise, I say it with good reason. Fate began with no plotting or character-building, and only minimal word-building that mostly came from the story that would eventually be called its sequel. I heavily identified with the pantser terminology because I felt that a story should flow (I mean,…

  Katie Bachelder

  March 15, 2018

  Uncategorized

  author, character development, novel writing, pantser, plantser, plotter, plotting, world-building

• 4 Tips to Being Good Author Support

  I speak from experience. Writers are an odd bunch. Shut-ins, anti-social, clacking away at typewriters. Big stay out signs posted on the door. Okay, maybe we’re not quite that bad. But writing is hard. It’s frustrating. It’s constantly trying to straddle a million different things at once, convinced we’re not doing it well. So if…

  Katie Bachelder

  February 1, 2018

  Uncategorized

  author, beta reading, constructive criticism, novel writing, support, writing