Hi gang, Craig here today. One thing good fiction requires is a bit of turmoil. Your main character has to have something unsettling going on in his or her life. I write speculative fiction, so it’s fairly easy to give an example or two.

I could dive right into an alien invasion or zombie apocalypse and have all the turmoil I need. In these examples it’s something the main character never wanted, but now has to come to grips with, maybe even defeat.

Something unwanted might apply in a more realistic setting when settlers have to flee an Indian uprising, or survive a starvation winter because the ships didn’t come.

There are also divorces, loss of employment, sick children, that kind of thing.

Another form of turmoil involves getting what you want, but it turns out to be problematic. Think about that new marriage that leads to her entire family…

Hi, Folks! Hope your day is going well so far, you’ve been staying safe and healthy at home, and you’re now ready for another #WhyWriteWrong post. 😊

LET’S GET THIS SHOW ON THE ROAD! 

As you might imagine, I have loads of these misunderstood words and phrases at hand, because many of us do use them incorrectly now and then, including me. So I keep a list, both as fodder for this series of posts, and as a reminder to be on the alert when using any of them in my own books.

Again, these are not words that have been mistyped, but rather, words that are frequently misunderstood, and thus used incorrectly way more often than they should be. The goal of these posts is to help us all avoid such mistakes. Since I believe a humorous approach is often easier to remember, that’s my preferred method, so…

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Hello SErs. Harmony here.  As promised, here is  part eleven in the post series dedicated to taking a step-by-step look at how to get your finished manuscript from your computer and on sale on Amazon in both ebook and paperback.

If you’d like to take a look back at the previous posts in this series, please click on the links at the end of this post.

So, here’s Part Eleven: How to Preview Your eBook.

The quickest and easiest way is to use Amazon’s online previewer to view your eBook. However, it is always best–if you can–to check how your finished book looks on as many devices as possible … more on that later.

As we saw in Part Ten, once you’ve uploaded your eBook, you can click on ‘Launch Previewer’ at the bottom of your eBook details page.

The following screen will load >>> (It…

Hello, SE readers! Mae with you today. If you’re a writer, at some point or another, you’ve probably considered using a pen name. Authors use pen names for various reasons ranging from privacy, to branding, to multi-genre writing.

Privacy is huge, especially in an online world where self-promotion is all but mandatory. I admit I’ve always been freaky about Facebook. Before I started publishing, I neither wanted nor had anything to do with it. As an author, I had to embrace it, but even that was a reluctant endeavor. Eventually, FB and I parted ways, but it’s still necessary that I promote myself elsewhere. If you’re an author, privacy only goes so far.

I’m fortunate that “Mae Clair” works in multiple genres. If I wanted to write hard-boiled crime thrillers, I might become M.L. Clair, but I can move around pretty easily with my name.

Those who are familiar with…

Good morning to all the Story Empire readers, PH here today with a topic you may not have thought about but probably should. I’ve touched on this subject in posts about using your meta-content (story bible) for dual purposes, but I wanted to revisit the idea of reader guides and the variety of information that you can develop from your data content. If you’re interested, read Marcia Meara’s recent post about Author’s Notes which is closely related in concept with reader guides and focuses on using different forms of engaging readers in your books. Likewise, Staci Toilo recently shared about Churn and Transmedia which describes how to gain an avid audience. The ideas about transmedia directly relate to the usage of reader guides.

A reader guide (transmedia and author’s notes are essentially the same) is simply any additional information you can provide to readers in a variety of formats…

Hey, SE Readers. Happy Friday. Joan with you today with the second in a two-part series on changing literary styles.

In the first post, I used examples from James Fenimore Cooper’s Last of the Mohicans and Tolkien’s The Hobbit. Today we’ll look at two of my favorite authors.

I first read Agatha Christie in high school. Her Hercule Poirot stories are among my favorites, particularly Murder on The Orient Express. She was a master at writing intriguing plots, throwing in enough twists to keep readers guessing until the end.

I recently read, And Then There Were None for the first time. Initially published in 1939, it’s the world’s best-selling mystery, having sold over 100 million copies, and is one of the all time best-selling books among all genres.

As I started to read, I realized how much writing styles have changed.

The driver said, addressing his remarks…

“Lucy. What are we doing here?
“The Boss is a contributor here, Twiggy.”
“I don’t see any biscuits.”
“I think he’ll fix that. Keep smiling.”

Hello, SEers. I am delighted to be part of The Story Empire group. I have long admired the members and followers and am pleased to now be a part of the team. I feel like a kid who has been looking at penny candy with his nose pressed against the display case glass, and the shop keeper invites me to take my pick.

The good news is I’m in. The bad news is now I have to go to work.  As you know by now, you can find a wealth of information on writing, publishing, and organization on The Story Empire. The authors here have a lot of experience and are willing to share.

To that end, for my first post, I’m going to discuss…