Dystopian fiction is, without a doubt, an amazing genre. It’s not the kind I pick all the time because it’s so easy to mess it up (I’m looking at you, Divergent). But when I do read dystopian books, they quickly end up becoming my favourite books of all time. A classic example of a dystopian story is, of course, 1984 by George Orwell. It’s hands down one of my favourite books of all time, second only to The Alchemist. There’s a lot of science fiction overlap with this genre too. In fact, I’d argue that the Remembrance of Earth’s Past series by Cixin Liu kind of becomes dystopian, especially as…

Let’s be honest: one of the most fun parts of a fantasy book is the introduction of magic. Seriously, if your story’s blurb has an intriguing magic system, I’m reading it. That’s how I wound up picking up Air Awakens at the beginning of the year. Sure, I abandoned the series because of how quickly the world and plot disintegrated, but I stuck around for three books because the magic system was so good. But that’s the thing about magic systems, isn’t it? It can drive your entire plot if it’s good. Of course, your story shouldn’t solely depend on it but that’s how critical a magic system can be.…

I grew up reading a lot of book series. In fact, the very books I read, the Oxford Reading Tree series, were—cue the drum roll—a series. So was the Mallory Towers series and the wizarding world series I read (which we don’t talk about here because the author’s unhinged) well into my teens. It’s safe to say that book series have dominated a large part of my reading list. And I bet it’s the same for a lot of you. We could talk about book series all day—maybe weeks, actually. There’s the Hunger Games, Twilight, A Song of Ice and Fire, Percy Jackson, Bridgerton, Shatter Me, and so many others.…

In case you haven’t been able to tell from my last blog on writing trauma, I’m back to working on my manuscript. And that’s not all; I’m also working on a number of short stories. It’s probably the weather—the rain, the shorter days, and the fact that I’m all bundled up in sweaters and socks. I believe I do my best writing during the winter. Since I’m refining my manuscript, I’ve been thinking a lot about the central conflict and how different subplots and elements need to cohesively come together to make a good story. It’s super easy to get lost in a character’s journey, the drama, and whatnot. In…

Okay, so this one’s a popular request. I’ve got many emails and comments under my post, On Writing Emotions to cover how to write trauma in fiction, so here we are. The reason this took me a while is because there’s a lot at stake here. You can easily fall into a Colleen Hoover-shaped rabbit hole where you’re romanticizing something that’s not a joke.  Of course, that doesn’t mean that you completely ignore the subject, but when you’re writing trauma, you need to be more intentional. When done right, it helps readers connect with your characters and fosters empathy around complex issues. When done wrong…I believe we have plenty of…

I recently reread the opening line of my manuscript and regretted everything. Seriously, it wasn’t bad—it just didn’t hit. Which sucks because my editor thinks it’s pretty good.  But—and this is a me problem—I do this thing where I start comparing what I write to my favourite authors, and then spiral. And that’s a rabbit hole that can really mess you up if you’re not careful. Because let’s be real: what you and I think is bad, might actually be great. I mean, my editor certainly thinks so. But that’s not the first thing that comes to my mind. I’m really critical of my own writing even though I’ve been…

So, recently I’ve been watching and reading a lot of murder mysteries. It’s a fall thing really. When the weather gets colder and the cafes start serving pumpkin spice latte, I like to curl up with a good murder mystery.  You’ll see more of that in this month’s reading list.  Anyway, the point is, I like murder mysteries. But I’ve never written them before. I’m not sure I could, to be honest. At least right now anyway. I’m way too involved with my own manuscript to think of anything else at the moment. But just because I’m not writing a murder mystery, doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t either. And help…

To quote Chuck Shurley from Supernatural: “Endings are hard. Any chapped-*** monkey with a keyboard can **** out a beginning, but endings are impossible. You try to tie up every loose end, but you never can. The fans are always gonna *****. There’s always gonna be holes. And since it’s the ending, it’s all supposed to add up to something. I’m telling you, they’re a raging pain in the ***.” And yes, I was a Supernatural fan in my teens (part of the SuperWhoLock part of Tumblr). We’re keeping it PG for the kids right now. In case there’s any here. But the point is, writing endings can be difficult.…

I’ve hit a bit of a writer’s block recently with the romantic subplot of my manuscript, especially since I’ve been recommended to write a slow burn love triangle. And it’s led me down this road where every scene I write reminds me of Twilight. The movie, not the book. Now, as a writer, I’d love the frenzy around the whole “Team Edward/Team Jacob” debacle, but I don’t want to write stuff that would make you cringe. I mean, I guess sometimes you can’t help it. I personally adored Edward Cullen and hated Jacob. But my inclination towards Edward may or may not have to do with the fact that he…

I’ve started submitting some prose to literary magazines recently and as usual, I kept running into the same problem: the word count. In my guide on how to write a short story, I talked about how to structure and write a short story. I also briefly mentioned flash fiction, as a type of a short story. And well, this is the blog about it. We’re going to talk about flash fiction, and how you can write it. It’s super popular with most indie literary magazines and if you’re an up-and-coming writer, it’s a great way to start fine-tuning your writing and building your portfolio. So, let’s get started! What Exactly…