Columns: Tag – Publish
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All About Love Official Blog
Publish your love story
We need your short stories and novels! A story without a reader is like a horse with no rider. Or a romantic without love.
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Do you need help with your manuscript?
We read and consider every manuscript sent to us – this service is free. We can also give you a full and professional editing report on any manuscript for a very reasonable fee.
All About Love Official Blog
Writing Romance - Five Tips
Many people think Romance writing is a bit like knitting. There’s a pattern to follow and, even if you’re a bit clumsy at first, you can knock off a finished product in a few afternoons while the kids are out playing.
All About Love Official Blog
Writing Romance - Five More Tips
Good Romance relies on good characters. We need to believe in them. They should be strong and complex enough for us to identify with them.
All About Love Official Blog
Romance – Why People Read It
People write romance for all kinds of reasons. But if you’re considering starting your first love story, it’s a good idea to know why people read them.
All About Love Official Blog
Romance - Why Write It
If you think Romance is a lesser form of fiction, go off immediately and read Pride and Prejudice.
There are many kinds of genre fiction, but nobody accuses Ian Rankin or Ruth Rendell of being lesser writers – simply because they write Crime. Genre fiction has certain expectations and constraints. But what else you do with it is up to you – and your talent.
All About Love Official Blog
Writer’s Block - Managing those pesky writer’s blues
I don’t believe in writer’s block.
Every day I ever sat down to write, I thought I wouldn’t be able to do it. I always sit down sweaty-palmed, wondering if I’ll be able to get a word on paper.
That’s why I believe writer’s block is another way of saying “fear”. And it’s just another excuse for not pushing through it.
All About Love Official Blog
Characters and how to lift them beyond the cardboard cut out
A friend of mine is a fine writer, whose first book was a great success.
His characters were beautifully drawn and tugged us into a poignant memoir. But he had always longed to write a novel. I couldn’t wait to see it.
When he showed me a draft, I couldn’t believe it. The characters were cardboard stereotypes.
All About Love Official Blog
Dialogue is real speech but better
Everyone recognises good dialogue when they see it. But few people can write it. So here’s a quick guide to really good dialogue:
All About Love Official Blog
Writing dynamic dialogue
You’ve written a really crucial dialogue that will end your characters’ marriage. It should be dramatic and poignant, but instead it seems flat, unreal or, worst of all, dreary.
What’s wrong with it? It will change your characters’ lives. Why doesn’t it affect the lives of your readers?
Here are a couple of quick hints that will lift a plain or dreary dialogue and give it dynamism:
All About Love Official Blog
Show, Don’t Tell and how to use detail effectively
His desk was bare, but for a human skull, with a cigar clamped firmly between its grinning teeth.
Immediately, we know a huge amount about this person, without anything having to be explained.
By now, the concept of “showing” rather than “telling” is pretty much accepted. But in numerous writing workshops, it’s become clear that people may accept the concept, but they’re often unsure how to to put it into practice.
All About Love Official Blog
Book research is like make up
Research is like good make-up. It should make you look better, without drawing attention to itself.
As a writer, you have to do far more research than you’ll every use in your book. But once you’ve done it, you’re tempted to show it off. Resist the temptation.
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