novel

The prompt this month was to complete “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…” in a novel way. In this, you manifestly succeeded :) In fact, this was arguably the best OPS contest we've run so far. The results are as follows (remember, you voted for the winners, and each entry was...

I just read this blog post by Chuck Wendig (link below) and it sounds like a fun/cool thing for us to do too. List 5 things you’ve learned writing a now completed novel/novella. It doesn’t have to be things about the book, it can be things you learned about yourself, or some interesting tidbit...

Make understandable misunderstandings happen, hook sentence at end of paragraph, and most importantly, personify abstract concepts. state the story idea in one sentence, two max. scene outline -each scene must move the story forward Dialogue: excites, has white spaces (no more than...

New blog post by Rachel McCarron My First Crit Do you remember your first time? Was it exciting? Were you nervous? Did you just want to get it over with? One of the most wonderful of the many wonderful features of the Litopia Colony is The Lab, where writers can go to experiment with their...

Hello, I'm Anaximander, I'm 55 years old, I live in the Netherlands. Been a member since September but only now getting around to checking out the site. I'm working on a fantasy novel; I'm almost at the end of Act I and currently I'm sick and tired of it and in need of a breather. I've been...

Hi Litopians! In reviewing a draft of my novel, I have come to realize I have been overlooking punctuation and grammar. Right now am looking at my use of the word "that". I have problems pinpointing when "that" can be removed, and I also have trouble deciding on the "that vs which" issue. I...

I think every novel is a rite of passage . . . there seems to be a karmic force in my imagination where even if I threw something away, it would just come back. Like maybe I wanna try to throw this away and not write this, but it would just resurrect itself in a new form. I can’t really get...

https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/books/2024/12/12/festive-frights-around-a-blazing-fire-its-time-to-revive-the-christmas-ghost-story/ Most popular modern Christmas traditions – tree decorations, festive feasts, holiday cards, carols – can be traced back to the Victorian era. There was also...

New blog post by Jason L. – discussions in this thread, please --- Thank you for bearing with me. As a reward, we’re leaving high school. We’ll only revisit it in my dreams from now on. I promise. Okay, we’re going to fast-forward now. I won’t bother you with the interim. I think we should let...

Normally I'd post this in the Steam Room, but my membership slipped back to basic when I came off worse in a head-to-head battle with a bailiff (long story). As older members will remember I've been banging on about writing a time-slip novel for several years. I think it is finally 'finished'...

Yay! I've just had a zoom interview with Charlotte of The Golden Egg Academy. Having read my first 2000 words (of Dangerously Fae) and my synopsis, she thinks I'm a really strong writer and has accepted me onto their one year course for writing Children's and YA! (Starts January). It's a lot of...

When is it ??? Just starting Chapter 3. I may need one of Jeeves' tissue restoratives to get through this.

Hi everyone! I put a feeler post out about this earlier in the month, and now it's officially happening! Here's how it'll work (for anyone who has done Writing Accountability Buddies, you may notice some similarities ;)) 1. Comment below to say you're want to join the event. 2. Tell us a bit...

I don't know what makes me feel worse: that such a poorly written novel became a global bestseller, or that the publishing industry (and our online world in general) is such an easy target for satire. Depressing to say the least. Now I see it's been optioned for TV: Lionsgate TV Options...

Everything’s already been said, but since no one was listening, we have to start again. André Gide

Well, it's been a heck of a year :rolleyes: sparing everyone the details, our immediate family (me, my wife and both our fathers) were struck with various cancers so... #fuckcancer Now that's over with, I've come back out of hiatus and I'm back to writing again. I published my fourth book just...

‘Writing a novel is a terrible experience during which the hair often falls out and the teeth decay. I’m always irritated by people who imply that writing fiction is an escape from reality. It is a plunge into reality and it’s very shocking to the system.’ Flannery O’Connor

A good novel tells us the truth about its hero, but a bad novel tells us the truth about its author. G. K. Chesterton

'Writing a novel without being asked seems a bit like having a baby when you have nowhere to live.' Lucy Ellmann