Do you prefer working with tangible notes as you write?

Admittedly, I’m not a fan of hand-writing my work in the slightest. I complete nearly all of my brainstorming, outlining, drafting, revising, and editing in Scrivener. That said, I recently had the opportunity to try out printed scene cards courtesy of my friend and fellow author Jennifer Bull, and I had a blast playing around with all of their possibilities.

How did I use the scene cards Jenn designed as I worked? Let’s discuss three ways to integrate them into your writing process today!

Before you even sit down to type the first word of your novel, there’s some groundwork you need to do first.

You need to spend time developing your characters, world, plot, and doing lots (and lots) of research. This is known as the pre-writing stage, and it’s something we don’t talk about often enough as writers.

“But I don’t want to do more work!” you lament.

Shhhh. Just accept it now and it will make your life loads easier. Trust me. What I’ve discovered after several novels and years of writing is that the time you invest in your pre-writing stage will determine how smoothly the writing process goes. And you want it to go as smoothly as possible, right? (Hint: just say yes).

I feel like a lot of new writers think that you come up with some ideas and then just dive right into your story. I mean, sure, you could do it that way. But you’re just making things harder on yourself.

Whether you love it or hate it, researching a novel is no easy task.

The good news is that the research process doesn't have to be a pluck-out-your-own-eyeballs kind of event. By getting savvy in our research techniques and creating an epic plan of attack, we can say goodbye to the endless web-surfing cycle of doom and hello to focused, intentional, and highly effective research — and it doesn't even have to be a bore!

But where in the world do we begin in tackling such a task? And how can we apply the research we've done to our stories? I'll break down everything you need to know in today's article, writer.

Like any industry or creative hobby, the writing world comes with its fair share of lingo.

When I first began learning more about the craft of writing, I came across a bevy of words and phrases whose definitions left me feeling clueless. Pantsers versus plotters? Deus ex machina? Exposition, epilogue, epigraph? It took me far too long to feel in-the-know as a new writer. If you find yourself in a similar position now, let’s take some time today to define the popular literary lingo you need to know!