Blogging about my books, the writing process, mindset, and anything else I feel like sharing.
Wow, here we are at day six in my twelve day novel planning series already! I hope you have been enjoying the posts so far and are gleaning some useful tips. This series is intended to prepare you to start working on your novel during Christmas break (if you get one), however, you can use these tips to get started anytime.
Read MoreThe next step in planning your novel involves mapping out the major scenes in your novel. In my last post, I talked about the difference between story and plot, and in today’s post we are going to be moving on from your story and starting to work more on your plot.
In the post about conducting research for your novel, I mentioned how genre stories have obligatory scenes. We are going to be working with those obligatory scenes today so if you haven’t finished researching the kinds of scenes you need for your novel, this is a great place to start.
Read MoreHere we are at day (or step) number four in my planning your novel series. I hope you’re getting excited to start creating a story involving the characters you created in step three. Today I want to discuss the ‘big picture’ when it comes to your novel so I’ll be discussing the difference between story and plot.
Read MoreWelcome to post number three in my 12-post series about planning a novel. 12 Days of Planning Your Novel is a fun tribute to the 12 Days of Christmas with the goal of being ready start writing your novel during the actual twelve days of Christmas (December 25 - January 5). Here’s where you can find the first two posts.
Read MoreI hope you enjoyed Day 1 of planning your novel. Now that you've figured out what type of novel you want to write, it’s time to move on to the next stage: research. Even if you're writing a story that takes place in a completely made up world, you'll still have a bit of research to do.
Read MoreWelcome to Day 1 of Planning Your Novel. I thought it would be fun to do a series based on one of my favourite Christmas songs: The 12 Days of Christmas.
Now, the 12 days of Christmas are actually December 25 - January 5, but I wanted to release all 12 parts of this series before Christmas so that if you are following along with me, you’ll be all set to write during the actual 12 days of Christmas, a time when many people have some time off. Of course, you can work through this series anytime you want. I understand the holidays can be a very busy time!
On December 7, 2018, the Alzheimer’s Society, UK will be celebrating Elf Day, a festive fundraising day where people where red and green and dress like elves to raise awareness about dementia. I mention this because many families, including my own, are affected by dementia, but this isn’t the Elf Day I wanted to talk to you about today.
Read MoreI have been very fortunate to work with some amazing beta and advance readers. Recently, I realized that although some of these readers are very helpful, they don’t always understand the difference in the role they play when acting as a beta reader versus an advance reader.
Read MoreHi, I'm Michelle! Writing is a passion of mine. I love to entertain and educate through my writing. I started out writing about business and money and have moved on to thrillers and picture books.
Spending time with family is what I'm all about. Life's too short!
I have two amazing sons who love Lego and ninjas...and TV (sigh)!! We read a ton of storybooks to make up for the TV thing. One of the best ways to explain things is through stories of course.
If it was up to me, I'd have chips and dip for dinner every night with a super dark chocolate bar to round out the meal...and maybe an apple! It's a good thing I've got kids and a husband. They keep me responsible (and healthy).
