This book will help you to write a fight scene which is entertaining as well as realistic, and leaves the reader breathless with excitement. The book suggests a six-part structure to use as blueprint for your scene, and reveals tricks how to combine fighting with dialogue, which senses to use when and how, and how to stir the reader's emotions. You'll decide how much violence your scene needs, what's the best location, how your heroine can get out of trouble with self-defence and how to adapt your writing style to the fast pace of the action. There are sections on female fighters, male fighters, animals and weres, psychological obstacles, battles, duels, brawls, riots and final showdowns. For the requirements of your genre, there is even advice on how to build erotic tension in a fight scene, how magicians fight, how pirates capture ships and much more. You will learn about different types of weapons, how to use them in fiction, and how to avoid embarrassing blunders. The book uses British spellings.

Are your frightening scenes scary enough? Learn practical tricks to turn up the suspense. Make your readers' hearts hammer with suspense, their breaths quicken with excitement, and their skins tingle with goosebumps of delicious fright. This book contains practical suggestions how to structure a scary scene, increase the suspense, make the climax more terrifying, make the reader feel the character's fear. It includes techniques for manipulating the readers' subconscious and creating powerful emotional effects. Use this book to write a new scene, or to add tension and excitement to a draft. You will learn tricks of the trade for "black moment" and "climax" scenes, describing monsters and villains, writing harrowing captivity sections and breathtaking escapes, as well as how to make sure that your hero doesn't come across as a wimp... and much more. This book is recommended for writers of all genres, especially thriller, horror, paranormal romance and urban fantasy. It is aimed at advanced-level and professional authors and may not be suitable for beginners. British English.

Do you write fantasy fiction? This book is a resource for authors. Crammed with information, tips, and plot ideas, it helps you create stories about magic and magicians which are believable and exciting. Learn about power-raising, ritual, training, initiation, love spells, sex magic, costuming, equipment, correspondences, magical weapons, healing, protection, miracles, spells, amulets, talismans, curses, hexes, illusionists, charlatans, natural and ceremonial magic, witchcraft, shamanism, alchemy, necromancy, ethics, conflicts, secrecy and more. Draw up a psychological profile for your magician, invent fictional spells that work, avoid blunders, and create trouble for your characters. This book is part of the Writing Craft series (Writing Fight Scenes, Writing Scary Scenes, The Word-Loss Diet, Writing About Villains), and is especially useful for writers of high fantasy, urban fantasy and paranormal romance. British English. CONTENTS 1. MAGICIAN CHARACTERS Personality Profile. Food for Thought. Assignment 2. MAGIC SYSTEMS Pick a System. High Magic and Low Magic. Black Magic and White Magic. Ceremonial Magic. Natural Magic. Religious Magic. Alchemy. Traditional Witchcraft. Wiccan Witchcraft. Necromancy. Shamanism. Ancient Egyptian Magic. Folk Magic. Voodoo. Invent a System. Terms, Definitions, Spellings. Blunders to Avoid. Further Reading. Food For Thought. Assignment. 3. TRAINING AND INITIATION Training Opportunities. School of Magic. Apprenticeship. Self-Study. Part-Time Study Informal Learning. Candidate Selection. The Daily Grind of Learning. Examples from Literature. Initiation. Blunders to Avoid. Food for Thought. Assignment. 4. RITUAL AND POWER-RAISING Structure of the Ritual. Casting the Circle. Invocation. Altering the State of Consciousness. Raising Power. Speaking the Spell. Dismissing the Spirits. Closing the Circle. Grounding. Keeping Records. Resting. Fiction Ideas for Power-Raising. Blunders to Avoid. Food For Thought. Assignment. 5. LOCATION AND CIRCLE-CASTING Choosing the venue. How to Cast the Circle. Choosing the Time. Plot Possibilities. Food for Thought. Assignment. 6. COSTUMING AND EQUIPMENT What the Magician Wears. Equipment. Plot Possibilities. Further Reading Food for Thought. Assignment. 7. PHRASING THE SPELL How to Write A Spell. Sample Spells. Further Reading. Food for Thought. Assignment. 8. CORRESPONDENCES Using Charts. Correspondence Topics. List of Colour Correspondences. Further Reading. Food for Thought. Assignment. 9. LOVE SPELLS Rituals. Clients. Conflicts. Does Your Magician Perform Love Spells? Conflict - Plot Possibilities. Consequences - Plot Possibilities. Further Reading. Food for Thought. Assignment. 10. SEX MAGIC Power-Raising. Structure of the Ritual. Variations. Plot Possibilities. Further Reading. Assignment. 11. MAGICAL WEAPONS AND WARFARE Material, Size and Shape. How it Works. Charging and Cleansing. Plot Possibilities. How to Defeat a Magician. Magic in Warfare. Assignment. 12. HEALING AND PROTECTION Healing. Protection. Guarding Against Harmful Magic. Hexes and Curses. Protection Against Magical Attacks. Talismans and Amulets. Further Reading. Food for Thought. Assignment. 13. ETHICS, CONFLICTS, SECRECY Ethics. Villainous Ethics. The Wiccan Rede. Secrecy. When Mages Make Mistakes - Plot Possibilities. Outer Conflict - Plot Possibilities. Inner Conflict - Plot Possibilities. Food for Thought. Assignment. 14. ILLUSTIONISTS AND CHARLATANS Illusionists. What They Do. How It's Done.

Tighten and tone your writing style, and use simple revision tricks to slim down your manuscript. Shed thousands of words without changing the plot. Strip away the word fat and reveal the muscle of your unique author voice. This book is short, but potent. It is perfect for - self-editing before you submit your book to agents and publishers, or before self-publishing - understanding why your stories get rejected, or why so few readers buy your book after downloading the sample chapters - taking your writing craft skills to the next level - polishing your writing style for the move from amateur to professional The book is based on Rayne Hall's popular class of the same title which has helped many writers shed word weight and develop a leaner, stronger writing style. Some authors say the class was the best investment they ever made. Now you can study the techniques in book form at your own pace. Please This book assumes that you have some fiction writing experience. You'll benefit most if you've already mastered the basics of the craft and want to learn specialist techniques. It is not recommend for absolute beginners.

Create the villain your novel deserves: a fiend whom your readers will love to hate and can never forget. Instead of cardboard evil-doers with evil laughter and stinking breath, you will develop villains with personality, ideals, feelings and conflicts. They will challenge your heroes, chill your readers, and give your novel excitement and depth. This book is part of the Writing Craft Series: Writing Fight Scenes, Writing Scary Scenes, The Word-Loss Diet, Writing About Villains, and more. British English.

Learn to haunt your readers with powerful, chilling tales. Make their spines tingle with anticipation and their skins crawl with delicious fear. Disturb their world-view and invite them to look into the dark corners of their own souls. This book gives you a wealth of tools and techniques for writing great short stories. It is part of the acclaimed Writer's Craft series. TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction 1. FEED YOUR FICTION WITH YOUR FEARS Places. Weird Shudders. Phobias. Childhood Fears. Dreams. Human Attitudes. Ordinary Things. Assignment. 2. WHY THE TITLE IS A STRONG START Gathering Ideas. Assignment. 3. WRITING BY THE SEAT OF YOUR PANTS Now Write. Prompts. The Freewriting Experience. Assignment. 4. FIFTEEN MASTER PLOTS Plot Ideas You Can Use. Assignment. 5. DARK FICTION AND HORROR GENRES Horror. Splatterpunk. Extreme Horror. Psychological Horror. Dystopian. Lovecraftian. Thriller. Mystery. Dark Fiction. Supernatural. Paranormal. Paranormal Romance. Dark Fantasy. Urban Fantasy. Gothic. Erotic Horror. Horror Comedy. Romantic Suspense. Steampunk. Ghost Stories. Slipstream. Speculative Fiction. Weird Fiction. Flash Fiction. Slice-of-Life. Cross-Genre. Collection. Anthology. Assignment. 6. POINT OF VIEW Deep PoV Techniques. Serial Point of View. Omniscient Point of View. Other Point of View Styles. Assignment. 7. MANAGING TENSION Goal. Raising the Stakes. Conflicts Among Characters. Peaks and Troughs. Assignment. 8. BUILDING SUSPENSE Pose a Question. The Ticking Clock. Pacing. The Door Opens. Assignment. 9. HOW TO SCARE YOUR READERS Darkness. Sounds. Chill. Isolation. Meet the Monster. Get Visceral. The Gory Bits. Assignment. 10. CREEPY LOCATIONS Select the Setting. Inspiring Pictures. How to Describe the Setting. Practical Research. Setting Research Checklist. Assignment. 11. MAKE THE MOST OF THE WEATHER Create Atmosphere. Deepen the PoV. Make it Difficult for the Characters. Strained Tempers. Mood and Foreboding. Beware the Pathetic Fallacy. Collecting Descriptions. Assignment. 12. HOW TO OPEN YOUR STORY Opening with Setting Description. Opening with Dialogue. Opening While All Seems Well with the World. Assignment. 13. HOW TO END YOUR STORY Endings to Avoid. Seven Possible Endings. Leave Questions in the Reader’s Mind. Assignment. 14. VILLAINS AND MONSTERS Human Clichés to Avoid. Motivation. Depth. Describing the Villain. Reveal it Bit by Bit. Keep it Plausible. Assignment. 15. GHOST STORIES Plot and Backstory. Setting and Mood. Characters and Point of View. Assignment. 16. VAMPIRES, WEREWOLVES, ZOMBIES Sparkling Versus Traditional. Vampire Tropes. Fiction Ideas. Werewolf Tropes. Questions to Consider. How Zombies are Made. Zombie Tropes. Fiction Ideas. Beware the Bite-Hiders. Assignment. 17. RELIGIOUS HORROR Horror in Holy Books. Faith Versus Fear. Religious Historical Horror. Unbelievers Meet Scary Gods. Stories Presenting Religion as Evil. Writing About Other Faiths. Controversy. Assignment. 18. Why Do People Read Horror Fiction? Seven Psychological Reasons. Assignment. 19. MARKETING AND PUBLICATION Traditional Publishing. Markets. Rights. Payment. Self-Publishing. Trends. Assignments. 20. SAMPLE STORIES WITH COMMENTS Burning. Seagulls. Only A Fool. DEAR READER This book uses British English.

A short story is the perfect tool for promoting your novel. Readers who love your story will look for more fiction by the same author. Here are some ideas: post a story on your website as a free read or give it to another writer of the same genre to display it on their website. Publish it as a short free ebook, bolstering your list of published books. Offer it as a giveaway on blog tours. Submit it to a magazine, ezine or anthology where it will get read by lovers of your genre. This book is structured like a workshop, based on an online class I taught. As you progress through the chapters, you’ll build your story step by step, from the spark of an idea to the polished version that will wow your readers and make them eager to buy your novel. For powerful promotion, writing a great story is not enough. It needs to be a particular kind of story to target your audience, win fans and sell books. To get the most from this book, you should have at least one novel to promote, whether traditionally or indie-published. You need to have mastered the basics of the fiction writer’s craft, though not necessarily of the short story form. If you’re a fiction writing novice or are still working on your first novel, it’s too soon to follow this programme, although you may find useful inspiration. If you enjoy writing, and if you have a novel you want to promote, you’ve come to the right place.

Use Twitter to improve your writing, network with other authors, meet fans, build a platform, gain exposure, find reviewers and sell books. Rayne Hall has one of the best platforms any writer has on Twitter – with over 50,000 genuine, engaged followers who enjoy her tweets and buy her books. Here she shares practical advice, fun ideas, step-by-step strategies for success – and even the embarrassing mistakes she made. This book is a great help to any writer who wants to use Twitter as a professional tool without wasting precious writing time. Suitable for newbies as well as Twitter veterans, it shows you how to spot fake followers, guides you past the dreaded 2,000-follower hurdle, helps you throw a Twitter party and reveals the most powerful ways to promote a book.

Does your book sell as well as it deserves? If it doesn't, one of twenty blocks may hinder its sales—blocks you can easily remove once you're aware of them. Sell more books! Many authors who've used this guide for a few weeks already report a significant increase in sales. Each chapter reveals one area where indie authors are sabotaging their books' success, and shows how you can free yourself from that trap. Whether you want to sell 100,000 copies or would be happy with just 100, this guide helps you raise your book above the hundreds of thousands of titles competing for attention. All strategies are proven and ethical - no cheating, no aggressive methods, no hype. Rayne Hall is the author of over 60 books published under several pen names, in several genres, in several languages, by several publishers ... and all the recent ones are indie-published. As a trained publisher with thirty years experience, she knows the business. In this book she reveals the strategies that worked for her, and the mistakes she made and learnt from along the way.

Do you want your readers to feel like they're really there—in the place where the story happens? Whether you want to enrich stark prose with atmospheric detail, add vibrancy to a dull piece or curb waffling descriptions, this guide can help. Learn how to make your settings intense, realistic, and intriguing. This is the tenth book in Rayne Hall's acclaimed Writer's Craft series.

In the world of business, SWOT is used as a power tool to shoot trouble, prevent problems, produce more and increase sales.Now you can make it work for you. Use SWOT (Strengths – Weaknesses – Opportunities - Threats) to boost your writing career. This book is all about YOU: YOUR writing career, YOUR work in progress, YOUR marketing. Instead of presenting you with a ready-made, one-size-fits-all plan, it empowers you to find your own solutions to your challenges. If you're writing as a relaxing pastime, this book is not for you. It's a guide for published and unpublished authors of all genres who are serious about their writing career and who are willing to take a businesslike approach to pursue success. If you're looking for a book to entertain you in your favourite armchair, you would find it a dry, confusing read – but if you engage with the assignments and apply your imagination, exciting new paths will open up for you.

“How do you get your cat to pose for pictures like this?” is the question I get asked most often. People can't believe their eyes when they see my social media photos of the cute kitty 'reading' books. When I say that I trained him, the reaction is inevitably “What?!” and “You can't train a cat!” Oh yes, you can train a cat. When I say, “Sulu, shake hands” he places his right paw in my right palm. When I say, “Sulu, scratch” he walks to the scratching post and scratches. When I say, “Sulu, read” he lies down by the open book, places his paw on the page and 'reads' while I take pictures. Sulu is an ordinary cat, a black moggy from the cat rescue shelter whom nobody else wanted. You'll meet Sulu in photos throughout this book, showing off what he can do. The star of your book, however, is your cat. I haven't met her, so I'll assume she's an untrained but intelligent kitty who has a mind of her own. I'll call her Catsy. Adapt my strategies so they meet Catsy's approval. She'll probably love the training, but it has to be on her terms. Catsy won't be ordered about! I'm not a professional animal trainer. I'm simply a writer who loves cats and has books to promote. Maybe this description fits you, too. If Sulu and I can do it, Catsy and you can do it as well. For a professional perspective, veterinarian Dr. Pippa Elliott MRCVS shares expert tips. This is a guide for authors and publishers with books to promote. If you promote different products, or if you simply want to spend quality time with your cat, teach her to perform tricks, and take cute photos for the social media, this book will give you enjoyable ideas but you need to adapt them to suit. Now let's get started. Tell Catsy we're going to have fun.

Do you want to give the readers such a vivid experience that they feel the events of the story are real and they're right there? Do you want them to forget their own world and worries, and live in the main character's head and heart? The magic wand for achieving this is Deep Point of View. Readers love it, because it gives them the thrill of becoming a different person. The reader doesn't just read a story about a gladiator in the arena, an heiress in a Scottish castle, an explorer in the jungle, a courtesan in Renaissance Venice—she becomes that gladiator, heiress, explorer, courtesan. Deep Point of View hooks readers from the start. After perusing the sample, he'll click 'buy now' because he simply must read on, and when he's reached the last page, he's grown addicted to the character, doesn't want the story to end, and buys the next book in the series at once. A reader who has been in the grip of Deep Point of View may find other books dull and shallow. Who wants to read about a pirate, when you can be a pirate yourself? Immersed in Deep PoV, the reader enjoys the full thrills of the adventure from the safety of her armchair. In this book, I'll reveal the powerful techniques employed by bestselling authors, and I'll show you how to apply them to rivet your readers. I'll start with the basics of Point of View—if you're already familiar with the concept, you can treat them as a refresher—and then guide you to advanced strategies for taking your reader deep. This is not a beginners' book. It assumes that you have mastered the basics of the writer's craft and know how to create compelling fictional characters. If you like, you can use this book as a self-study class, approaching each chapter as a lesson and completing the assignments at the end of each session. Now let's explore how you can lead your readers deep into your story. (This is the 2019 edition with improved formatting.)

Reviews help sell books. When browsing online for their next read, most readers are drawn to the books with many reviews. More and more readers glance at what other readers have to say about a book before they hit the 'buy now' button. The more people have read and liked the book, the more they want to experience it for themselves. This is a known psychological factor called 'social evidence', and it plays a big role in purchasing decisions. The more reviews your book has, the better, especially if they are genuine, personal, thoughtful and positive. Reviews can multiply your sales and catapult your book to the top of bestseller lists - but how do you get them? Perhaps you're a new author and can't get those crucial early reviews to start the train rolling. Maybe you're a seasoned author and your books have garnered reviews, but not as many as you need to break out. Or perhaps you've gone the corporate publishing route, and find that your publisher's publicist isn't getting your book the attention it needs. This book shows you many proven strategies to get the reviews your book deserves. Instead of urging you to labour through tedious, spirit-draining procedures, I'll reveal quick, fun, empowering tricks. All my suggestions are legitimate and ethical. In this book you won't find methods for manipulating, faking and cheating. Strengthen your readers' bond with you, don't sabotage it. Most of the methods I suggest are free, although some incur expenses. You will definitely need to spend time. You can apply them all these techniques, or cherry-pick the ones you like now and keep the rest for another time or a different book. At the end of most chapters, I'm sharing mistakes I made and learnt from. They all seemed a good idea at the time. Rayne

Learn how to touch your readers' subconscious with subtle tricks. Certain sounds have certain effects on the psyche. By using words which include those sounds, you influence how the reader feels. Euphonic techniques are popular in poetry, but seldom used in prose. This guide shows how you can apply them to make your prose fiction sparkle. For the purpose of this book, I define euphonics as the use of sound devices for prose writing. Poets, musicians and special effects engineers have their own definitions. I'll show you which sounds to apply to manipulate your reader's psyche the way you want. You'll learn how to impress your readers with power, how make their hearts race with urgency, how to creep them out and how let them linger in a sensual scene. Part 1 is a thesaurus of sound effects where you can look up the best sounds to enhance the mood of your scene. In Part 2, you'll learn how and when to apply the sounds and how to combine them with rhythm for best effect. This book isn't meant as a definitive scholarly tome for academics, but a practical kit for working authors who want to refine their voice. I'll avoid literary theory and grammatical jargon. Instead, I'll give you useful tools. Novice writers can have inspiring fun playing with euphonics. In the hands of skilled writers - for whom this guide is intended - euphonics are power tools. Euphonics can't replace basic fiction crafting skills, but they can add impact and polish to a well-written piece. In print, the effects are very subtle, serving only to enhance what’s already there, and need to be combined with other techniques. But if you plan to perform author readings or release an audiobook, the euphonics will hold listeners enthralled with poetic power. I'm writing in British English. Some spellings, grammatical rules and word choices differ from American English, but the euphonic effects are the same. Now open your manuscript draft to give it that special polish.

Do you want to write fast-paced, exciting, sizzling dialogue? This book reveals professional dialogue technique to characterise the speaker, carry the plot forward and entertain your readers. This is not a beginner's guide. I assume that you have mastered the basics of fiction writing, and you don't need an explanation what dialogue is and why it matters for your story. But your dialogue isn't as strong as your story deserves. Perhaps it drags, perhaps the characters all sound the same, and perhaps it lacks tension, wit or sparkle. I'll offer you a toolbox filled with techniques. These are not 'rules' every writer must follow, but tricks you can try. Pick, mix and match them to suit your characters and your story. Some of these tools work for all kinds of dialogue, others solve specific problems - how to create male and female voices, how to present foreign languages and accents, how to present historical dialogue and flirtatious banter, how to write dialogue for alpha characters, for children and for liars. I suggest you read once through the whole book to discover the tools in this kit, then return to the specific chapters which address the challenges of your current project. You can apply the techniques to write new dialogue scenes, or to revise sections you've already written. When revising, you may want to compare the 'before' and 'after' versions. You'll be amazed how your dialogue scenes come to life. I won't weigh this book down with literary theory. Sometimes I'll use examples - mostly from my own books, for copyright reasons - but in essence, this is about your writing, your stories, your dialogue. If you like you can use this book as an advanced dialogue writing course, working your way through each chapter, doing the exercises in the chapter and the assignments at the end of each chapter. or you can simply read the whole book to get a feel for what's in it, then choose the techniques you want to study and apply for the chapter you want to write or revise.

You’ve written a novel, and the draft brims with promise. Now you’re revising it to shape it into a gripping work of fiction readers can’t put down. Revising a novel is fun. With each change, you see your book grow closer to your vision and gain more power. In this book, I offer you ideas on how to bring out your novel’s full potential. Play with them, experiment, explore where they’ll lead. To help you find the kind of prompts you need right now, I’ve sorted them into three Plot Revision Use this section if you have a first draft - perhaps after completing a NaNoWriMo sprint – and want to shape it into a powerful, emotion-rousing book. . Scene Revision Here you’ll find ideas to transform dull, dragging scenes into riveting reads with tension and sizzle. Line Editing Before you indie-publish your book or submit it to agents, enhance your style with sharp writing and a strong voice, where every word pulls the reader in. The polishing prompts help make your book sparkle with diamond quality. With each prompt, I’ll provide tips on how you can put the idea into practice. Interpret them creatively and adapt them to suit your unique story. If you’ve already applied an idea, or if it isn’t a good fit for your novel, skip to a different one. Pick the prompts that make you tingle with excitement.

Do you want to create compelling characters about whom the readers care deeply? This book reveals professional techniques to invent individuals who are so real that your readers will love or hate, fear or root for them, and so fascinating that your readers will remember them forever.

Do you want a synopsis that persuades agents to request the whole manuscript? Does your book need a description that entices Amazon customers click the 'Buy Now' button? This guide shows you step-by-step how to create six effective short forms for selling your manuscript to publishers and your indie-published book to readers: \* The SYNOPSIS shows the novel’s plot structure. You use it to communicate with industry professionals – publishers, editors, literary agents. \* The CHAPTER-BY-CHAPTER OUTLINE tells industry professionals about your non-fiction book or short story collection. \* The PITCH serves to convince publishers, editors, literary agents, booksellers and marketing people of the book’s commercial potential. Use it during pitching appointments when you have only few minutes to talk about your book, and as a hook in query letters. \* The BLURB is a product description for the book’s backcover and Amazon page, designed to entice readers. \* The ENDORSEMENT BLURB recommends another writer’s book. \* The TAGLINE is a short slogan to hook readers. Click ‘Look Inside’ or ‘Download Free Sample’ to see how this guide can help give your book the success it deserves. Rayne Hall is the author of over seventy books, both indie and traditionally published.

Do you want to give your novel a powerful story line? Do you want to power up a draft you’ve written? This guide shows professional techniques for developing and structuring your fiction book. It solves plot problems such as slow beginnings, sagging middles and flat endings, and guides you to write specific story parts such as the ‘Black Moment’ and the ‘Climax’. The focus of this guide is on plotting full-length novels, but there are also chapters on plotting short stories, series and serials. British English

Use your writing talent and your skill with words heal yourself. Author Rayne Hall and psychologist Alexander Draghici show fourteen practical strategies for self-therapy. Do you feel like you’re trapped in a dark hole of morass, sinking deeper and deeper, the mud rising to your hips, your chest, your throat? Is despair smothering you like a heavy blanket? Is your own life moving past you like a train, and you are forced to watch and cannot board? Has crippling lethargy wrapped its tentacles around you so tightly that you cannot move, sucking from you all energy and the will to live? If you want to get better, to feel alive again, if you want to step out of this darkness and take control of your recovery, this book can help.

Do you want your characters to feel such strong emotions that the readers' scalps prickle, their mouths go dry and their hearts thud like they're sharing the experience? Do you want to convey fear or happiness in ways that make the readers feel heat radiating through their chest or cold sweat trickling down their spine rather than the tired 'he was afraid' or 'she felt happy'? Step by step, you'll learn how to express feelings through body language, dialogue, thought, similes, visceral sensations and mood-rich descriptions. The book also guides you through layering emotions and varying their intensity. It shows you how to subtly reveal a character's secret or suppressed emotions. The book also flags mistakes to avoid and reveals tricks used by professional authors. At the end of each chapter, you'll find assignments. If you like, you can use this book as an advanced fiction-writing course. Please This book is not suitable for absolute beginners. It assumes that you have mastered the basics of your craft and know how to create characters and write dialogue and are ready to to take your craft skills to the next level. British English.

Do you want a daily dose of inspiration to carry your novel plot forward? Conventional lists of writing prompts are great for starting new projects, but don't work if you're already well into a story with developed characters and an ongoing plot. This book can help. Whether you seek to boost your own imagination, to rekindle your passion for a book project or to release a creative block, these prompts will get the juices flowing. To stimulate the flow of your imagination, I provide some ideas for every prompt: guiding questions, what-if scenarios, and suggestions how you might interpret the topic. While they may not be an exact fit for your novel, they will open the flood gates so your own ideas gush forth. Please note: this is not a novel-plotting guide. If you want structural help for your 'sagging middle', you may find my book Writing Vivid Plots more useful.

This book is crammed with fertile seeds for fantasy fiction. Each prompt comes with a wealth of suggestions how you can develop it to suit the kind of story you want to write. Plant those seeds into the rich ground of your own imagination, and watch them grow.

This book is crammed with fertile seeds for fiction that will thrill, disturb or scare your readers. Each prompt comes with a wealth of suggestions for how you can develop it to suit the kind of story you want to write. Plant those seeds into the rich ground of your own imagination, and watch them grow.

Do you suffer from Synopsisitis, New Novel Itch, Mad Muse Attack, Reality Blindness or Reichenball Falls Syndrome? If people think your behaviour is weird, this book will convince them that you're perfectly normal for a writer. You are simply afflicted with a Creatively Transmitted Disease. Compare your symptoms, discover the cure (if there is one) and diagnose your writer friends. Compiled by veteran author Rayne Hall, this book is a short, fun-to-read guide and suitable as a gift for yourself or the writer in your life. British English.

Learn to write love scenes like a a pro. Two professional authors show step-by-step how to create conflict, depth and intensity, and craft a heart-warming or harrowing scene that readers will never forget. This book shows you step-by-step how to to write about - the first meeting - the first kiss - characters in disguise - confessing a secret - relationship conflicts - breaking up - marriage proposals and much more. Do you want to write 'clean' or 'steamy' love scenes? The choice is yours. This guide shows techniques for - keeping your characters and your writing chaste - implying intimacy without showing it - creating erotic tension without sexual action - seducing the reader with explicit sex. Whatever genre you write, you'll find useful advice for your - gay love scenes - lovers belonging to different cultures - love between members of different species - love scenes involving several characters. 'Writing Love Scenes' is intended for intermediate and advanced-level writers and want to learn specialist skills. It is not recommended for absolute beginners. About the Susanne McCarthy is an experienced romance novelist. Rayne Hall is a professional fantasy and horror author, editor of the Ten Tales speculative fiction anthologies, and creator of the Writer's Craft series.

Learn how professional authors craft scenes, and apply the techniques to your fiction. This book shows you how to choose the cast of characters and the point-of-view, how to work with plot events and create conflict, how to build tension and conflict, and how to rework a dull scene to make it sparkle. It teaches you professional techniques for specific types of scenes, with a full chapter for each of the - novel-beginning scenes - novel-ending scenes - black moment scenes - climax scenes - outdoor scenes - indoor scenes - scary scenes - creepy scenes - love scenes - erotic scenes - chase scenes - confession scenes - fight scenes - duel scenes - battle scenes - night scenes - relationship break-up scenes - argument scenes - travel scenes Whatever kind scene you're writing or revising, this guide can help. Please some of the content overlaps with Rayne Hall's other books and articles.

Do you want people to recognise your author name, and to associate it with their favourite genre? Would you like a connection with your readers so strong that they mark your next release on their calendars? In this book, Rayne Hall takes you through the process step by step. She helps you create and refine your authentic brand, and shows you how to build a strong reputation and loyal following. An authentic brand is the basis for enjoyable, authentic book promotion. This guide gets straight to the point, without fluff and without doctrine. It's all about you and your brand. You’ll design your author brand from inside out, starting with who and what you really are and what you're comfortable with. You'll choose which parts of your true self you want to put on display, and how to present them. You'll learn: - How to develop different aspects of your brand - Which facets of your personality to present to the public - How to use your brand for effective marketing and book promotion - How to deal with conflicts and dilemmas - What choices to make for book cover and website design - What to post in social media - What to wear for public appearances - How to answer interview questions - How to respond to fan mail - What to say when asked "What do you write?" Designing a personal brand is a fun journey. Are you ready for your voyage of discovery?

Romantic and creepy, passionate and thrilling, Gothic fiction grabs readers and makes their hearts thud with excited suspense.This is the genre of dark secrets, forbidden loves and illicit passions, of ancient curses and evil crimes. Brooding heroes, wealthy eccentrics, obsessed scientists and corrupt priests come to live in these tales, often joined by a ghost, werewolf, vampire or supernatural hound.Stories are set in gloomy old houses and spooky mansions. Picture wild, windswept landscapes, sombre clouds and torrential rain. Stolen jewels, vile murders, an unexpected inheritance, bigamy, madness, illicit love and dangerous inventions keep the readers glued to the pages.Gothic is one of the oldest fiction genres, with classic masterpieces like Wuthering Heights, Jane Eyre, Frankenstein, Dracula, Rebecca and The Fall of the House of Usher. In the 21st century, they are represented many Thrillers and Romance novels on current bestseller lists.The most successful works of literature blend Gothic with other genres - especially Romance, Horror and Thriller - with the Gothic elements ratcheting up tension and enveloping the reader in suspense.So you want to try your hand at writing a Gothic story? Maybe you have a draft novel in another genre that needs more passion and thrills? I'll be your guide, showing you step by step how to craft a Gothic tale. This book is for experienced writers who want to add to their toolkit. If you're new to the craft of fiction writing, you can still enjoy this book and pick up useful techniques, but writers who've already mastered the basics of their craft will benefit most.Are you ready to delve into the mystery and excitement of the Gothic tale? Let's open the portal the old mansion. Can you hear the hinges squeal? Duck under the cobwebs, and mind that trap door under your feet. Take a few steps on the threadbare crimson carpet while I light a candle to show you the way.

This book teaches professional techniques for slowing down the pace for emotion and suspense, and for speeding it up for action and excitement. Please this is an advanced-level book, not suitable for beginner writers.