There are three things that make a story a page-turner: story structure, scene structure, and character arcs. My favorite part of stories is their structure. I know we're artists and creatives and structure makes us uncomfortable and inhibited, but story structure is different. It's not formula writing. Content and structure are not the same thing. … Continue reading What makes a book a page-turner?
I got to teach a class on the top ten querying tips for fiction and nonfiction writers. The tips I shared all come from conversations and interviews with literary agents and editors, and some of the advice is surprising. One of the first tips? Don't make it an easy rejection by not knowing the genre … Continue reading Query Tips!
I am a reader of ghost stories. I’ll read them while I clutch one hand over my eyes, peeking through my fingers like they were blinds over a forbidden window. To be more accurate, I’m a reader of the ghosts inside stories. It’s the beauty of the prose, the very words that are used to … Continue reading THE BOOKS THAT HAUNT ME
If your character has problems but not a story-worthy problem, that's a problem! Your character needs to change and learn something valuable. When they change, it's the universal lesson learned that readers remember. What does your MC learn? My AnnaGrey's learns:
It's #writingwednesday! The first line of a story is one of the hooks you need to have to keep your reader interested. When editing, is one of my favorite parts to critique. Here's the first line of my upcoming debut novel: #amwriting #writers #firstlines #writingcommunity
Lindsay Flanagan, Author & Editor 