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• Q&A: realistic characters, multiple projects

  2032 readersI had an email from Therese, advising me that we’re taking questions from blog readers for the month of December. That was actually a relief, as I’m fast drafting this month, and I’m using most of my brain for other things. Therefore,...

• Improve Your Authorial Voice Not By Writing, But By Watching

  2024 readersSince Writer Unboxed is focusing on voice this month, I thought I’d add an unconventional riff to the awesome contributions already put forth. I love reading prose fiction — but in my heart of hearts, I’m a movie junkie. It’s a brilliant way to economically tell stories, and I enjoy the creative constraints the medium has:

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  The Emotion In Your Writing Is Failing, and Here’s Why

  3323 readersAdvertise here via BSA Have you ever read a story you wrote and feel like it’s missing something? It’s probably got something to do with that age-old writing advice: “Show, don’t tell.” But why does “telling” fall flat? The part of the brain where we process words is not the same part of the brain where we process

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  How to Find Your Voice as a Blogger

  2286 readersA guest post by Srinivas Rao One of the things I’ve noticed between somebody who has been blogging for 6 months versus 6 weeks is the distinct difference in the way they write. I even noticed this with my own blog posts as a I looked back at many posts that I had written when I

• Voice…or Volume?

  3285 readersAgent Donald Maass is here today to kick off our month long discussion on Voice. —– Voice…or Volume? Voice in fiction is a term poorly defined. What does it mean? Style? Subject matter? Sensibility? World view? All of the above? Whatever it means editors, agents and readers all want it. The thing

• Hearing Voices

  1994 readersLast month, I blogged about getting to know your characters—which segways nicely into the WU theme for this month: voice. I’ve always felt that voice is the reflection of your POV characters’ personalities, the way they want their story to be told. And I’ve found that I can’t nail down the voice for my novels

• An Offer to Moo About

  5903 readersTherese here, turning the blog over to author Liz Michalski, who’s here with a great offer. A little over a month ago, Therese invited me to talk about my business cards and how I use them. Here’s a quick outtake: I wanted something fun and different as well — something that seemed like a little

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  Know Thyself & Write Like a Columnist: Finding Your Voice

  3677 readersToday on Fuel Your Writing, writer and blogger Marya Zainab helps us find our voice. ——————————————————————————————————————————– Define Your Voice I’ll go first. My voice is: colloquial, casual, concise, friendly, inviting, inspiring (hopefully), thoughtful, comic (fingers crossed), self deprecating, quirky. My voice is not: businesslike, formal, authoritative, serious, snarky, cynical, offensive, zen-like,dark, dreamy, snobbish, lyrical, abstract, literary, perfect. Now, it’s your turn.

• Happy New Year!

  1865 readersWriter Unboxed will be back in full swing next week, as we kick off not only the new year but a new craft month: Voice and POV. Here’s to a wildly successful 2010 for all of us! Write on. photo courtesy Flickr’s jrvetson

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  How to Find Your Writing Voice

  1988 readersWhen you’re a writer or a blogger, you’re putting your voice out there. It’s a lot like standing on stage singing your heart out for all the world to see. But figuring out your writing voice isn’t easy. It’s especially hard for new writers to find their writing voice, because they already feel awkward having