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Novel Writing — Revising

The thing you need to know about revising is not to fear it. Yes, it’s a lot of work, but it’s necessary work and, when done right, can be both enjoyable and rewarding. The first trick I learned is to think about the etymology of the word revision: re – vision. You had a vision when you started the book and now you have a chance to envision it again. This is a time of polishing, of perfecting, of insuring your original vision is as pure and beautiful as it can be before sending it off to be read. Don’t...

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Novel Writing — The First Draft

Much of this section is from my book How to Write Fantasy Novels, Volume II: The First Draft, but I have edited it to ensure it is applicable to all genres of fiction. You’ve got an idea and you’ve begun to write. Now what? Now you write until the book is done. Would that it were so easy. But in a way, the best way to get the book done is to do whatever you can to just write. Don’t plan. Don’t think. Just write. In fact, a lot of the advice in this Essential will be centered around pushing...

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Novel Writing—Starting Elements

Before you start the Novel Writing Essential, it’s recommended you read Point of View and Tense from the Basic Writing Essentials. The concepts there combine with the starting elements here in powerful ways. After you finish, further reading includes The Elements of Style by William Strunk Jr. & E. B. White, Characters and Viewpoint by Orson Scott Card, and Writing the Novel by Lawrence Block. Ideas that can serve as the starting point of a novel fall into a few main groups. You can start with more than one of them—in fact, it’s better if you do—but a novel can be...

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Cozy Study Materials

Remember to read the articles in the Essentials section. These cover all the essential skills you’ll need as a self-published author. They are not just for beginners either. They go in depth on how to successfully write, publish, and market your own books.

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Cozy Guide

Back to mystery One of the most important standing rules of cozy mystery is that you never see the body of the dead guy. Ever. My mother primarily read cozies because she didn’t want any blood or gore. In her case, she also didn’t want any sex, violence, profanity, or nudity. About as G-rated as you could manage. Maybe PG, but the sort of thing that showed up on network television before 9 PM, with all the classical restrictions thereof. If a murder has occurred (and those are quite popular in this genre), the detective in question is usually a...

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Amateur Sleuth Guide

Back to mystery Amateur sleuth is a category of mystery where the main character solving your crime is not a professional. (Easy enough, right?) As in cozy, they might have skills that help them more than the average Jane off the street, but not the training in crime solving. Or the experience. (Or, probably, the firepower that cops and private detectives can bring to bear when they have to.) Instead, you have an everyday person who has become involved in a crime. They can be a witness, a suspect, or even a friend of the deceased. They might be a...

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DS Amazon Quick View — A Vital (and free!) Chrome Extension

Tired of opening new tabs to see if a book is trad or self published? Fear not, DS Amazon Quick View is here to save you clicks, frustration, and time. Top 100 Amazon Bestsellers When doing market research, you’ll be spending a lot of time poring over the top selling books in the genres you’re investigating. And you want to spend most of your time looking at the independent books in that genre, as those are your competition, as well as your guide to what the readers want. But how to tell which of them are traditionally published and which...

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Should I Write Mystery?

Mystery is for those people who like puzzles. Also, for those who maybe think about murder just a little too much. Perhaps a healthy outlet for your murderous obsession, hmm?

In all seriousness, though it's one of the smaller indie genres it's not going anywhere. And its tendency toward series characters and readership makes it very attractive to the indie author.

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