by Janice Hardy

A hard-to-read book is a book that doesn’t get read.

My mother was a voracious reader, reading one or two books a day. We were talking about books once and she mentioned she'd stopped reading one because it was “Just too much work.”… Read the post

by Janice Hardy

Subplots can add depth and resonance to a story, but sometimes, they just knock the whole novel off track.

I’m currently revising two novels. My agent asked me to cut out a fairly large subplot from each of them, which changes a lot of little things in the novel, as well as some major things.… Read the post

By Janice Hardy

One of the problems with telling is that’s is often hard for writers to know when they’re doing it.

Show, don’t tell is subjective, which is why one rule doesn’t cover it all.… Read the post

By Janice Hardy,
@Janice_Hardy

It happens to the best of us.

We’re writing along, happy as can be, and then WHAM! Our story stalls. We write a scene, scrap it, write it again, move pieces around, cut and paste the same paragraph in nine different spots, but nothing works.… Read the post

By Janice Hardy, @Janice_Hardy 

Unless you're playing with a non-chronological story structure, plot unfolds as time marches on in a novel. It starts when the problem is discovered (more or less), and ends when the problem is resolved. But just because the story is in chronological order, doesn't mean we need to plot it that way.… Read the post