by Janice Hardy

A novel is about the story, not the technical skills you use to write it.

Fiction is an odd combination of skills. The craft of writing is technical, with rules and techniques that can achieve different results, yet the art of storytelling is visceral, relying on creativity and instinct to pluck the best pieces from our imagination.… Read the post

By Janice Hardy, @Janice_Hardy

Clichés aren’t necessarily bad—they’re just not original.

One of my favorite writing T-shirts says “I avoid clichés like the plague.” But clichés are so ingrained in our day-to-day lives that it’s hard to eliminate them completely from our writing.… Read the post

By Janice Hardy, @Janice_Hardy

Internalization breathes life into your characters and allows readers to connect with them on a deeper level.

What sets a novel apart from a movie or play is the ability to see inside the character’s head and understand what makes them tick.… Read the post

By Janice Hardy, @Janice_Hardy

World building is one of my favorite aspects of writing science fiction and fantasy. It’s a chance to open up the creative floodgates and let the imagination run wild. But world building is more than just the physical and descriptive details of a place.… Read the post

By Janice Hardy, @Janice_Hardy

The best stories are the ones that come alive in a reader's imagination. They pull the reader into the story world and sweep them away in the struggles and dreams of the characters. For us writers, envisioning our stories is the easy part, and the trick is getting what's in our heads onto the page.… Read the post