by Callie Sutcliffe |
Have you ever wondered which draft you are working on? Do you wonder what the difference is between your first draft, your second draft, and editing your book? You can learn the first draft definition and the differences between drafts in this article.
When writing multiple drafts of a book, you may be halfway through your rough draft and decide to start over. Or you may have written the entire manuscript, but then wish to scrap it and start fresh.
And when considering this, you question: “Am I writing a first draft? Am I editing my novel?”
What does “first draft” mean—or “second draft,” for that matter?
Knowing the differences between first drafts, second drafts, and editing your book will elevate your ability to tackle the writing and editing process. It will help you understand what to focus on when you’re writing—and have fun while you do it!
by Joe Bunting |
Tone in writing refers to both the writer’s feelings and attitude towards the subject and the audience and how those feelings are expressed. Tone is one of the elements of writing, and writers convey their tone through word choice and syntax. Like tone of voice, it helps set the mood of the writing piece and influences the reader interpretation.
Examples of tone can be formal, informal, serious, humorous, sarcastic, optimistic, pessimistic, and many more (click here for all forty-two examples)
by Robert Harrell |
Irony is one of those literary devices that you feel before you know how to talk about it. Irony is the difference between what you expect and what happens. But what does that mean and can you learn how to identify irony? Let’s learn about irony today.
by Alice Sudlow |
Italics, quotation marks, underlines, plain old capital letters—when it comes to writing titles, the rules can feel like a confusing mess. Do you italicize book titles? What about movie titles? And for goodness’ sake, what should you do with pesky things like TV shows, short stories, or Youtube videos?
With so many different kinds of media, it’s easy to get lost in all the rules. Let’s demystify them, shall we?
by Sue Weems |
A little over ten years ago, I had almost a decade of English teaching experience, a couple years paid freelance writing work, several creative writing university courses under my belt, and a few small publications in poetry and nonfiction. A friend’s mom, Mae, had written a query letter for her second novel. She asked me to read it and give her some writing feedback. What could go wrong?
When Mae asked, I had not attempted to write an entire novel or a query letter. I had read thousands of novels and a few letters, but I had not studied the structure and requirements of each. I assumed writing was writing. Surely with a degree in English and a little experience, I was qualified to give good feedback?
Nope. Not even close.
by Joslyn Chase |
As writers, we are always working to make our stories the best they can be. One of the more advanced techniques that can help you do this is by giving an underlying meaning in a scene—otherwise known as subtext.
In a story, subtext can be implied by the surface action and dialogue.
When you think about the books and stories that you most enjoyed reading, chances are that story’s scenes were woven with something deeper than what appeared on the surface.
Today I’d like to teach you seven simple techniques for using subtext in your story, which I’ll also teach with some subtext examples.
