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Reader Saturation—Dealing with Changing Reader Tastes

July 2, 2015 by Fiction Editor Beth Hill

Even your most avid fans may hunger for a different protagonist, a different story world, or even a different genre. Consider options for when readers become saturated by elements of your stories.

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Narrative Modes in Fiction—Telling Your Story (Writing Essentials)

June 24, 2013 by Fiction Editor Beth Hill

A introduction to the narrative modes of fiction—action, dialogue, description, exposition, and thought—and a brief discussion of how they can be combined in novels.

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Those %!@# Expletives

May 26, 2013 by Fiction Editor Beth Hill

Expletives—there is, there were, it is, it was, and so forth—can make sentences dull. And sometimes they’re just used too often in our writing. Learn how expletives can work either for or against story.

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Twist Words to Surprise Readers

April 27, 2013 by Fiction Editor Beth Hill

Use word choices to make your stories stand out, to involve readers in the fiction. Tips for twisting common words into memorable passages.

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Tone, Mood, & Style—The Feel of Fiction

April 19, 2013 by Fiction Editor Beth Hill

Tone, mood, and style—three of the elements of fiction—each contribute to the feel of a story. Learn what each is and how they affect one another.

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Keep Readers Close to Action and Emotion

May 12, 2012 by Fiction Editor Beth Hill

If readers aren’t engaged by your story, maybe you’re holding them at a distance, using filtering phrases that keep them a step away from the action and emotion of a scene. Check out these common filtering phrases that keep readers at a distance.

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Novel Writing Isn’t Paint by Numbers

February 5, 2012 by Fiction Editor Beth Hill

There is not only one way to write a sentence, a scene, a chapter, or a story. Writing a novel isn’t only about plugging in words and events and scenes in accordance with a formula. It’s writing with skill and artistry.

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How Goes the Flow in Your Story?

October 1, 2011 by Fiction Editor Beth Hill

Story passages have a rhythm, a pattern, a sound. Yet I don’t want to talk about rhythm so much as I do flow. Rhythm can affect flow, but it’s only one element that can. Let’s look at other story elements that can interfere with flow. Stories should flow, move along without impediment, and lead ever […]

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The Sterile Story—Don’t Write Another One

July 8, 2011 by Fiction Editor Beth Hill

Fiction can be sterile and bland and seemingly perfect, but sterile stories don’t engage the reader. Be encouraged to bypass the safe and sterile and instead write engrossing stories.

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Clichés–Are They Really That Bad?

January 26, 2011 by Fiction Editor Beth Hill

Using clichés is like wearing someone else’s old and dirty clothes. They might have looked good at one time, but they don’t look good anymore. They don’t fit right and they don’t smell too good and they do nothing to improve your looks and bearing.

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