Over the years, A Writer of History has accumulated many posts on the craft of writing. With more than 2000 posts on the blog, I thought I would present 10 that stand out.
In 2022, with new authors in mind, I pulled together a few posts featuring books that are specifically about writing historical fiction. You can find them at 5 Books on Writing Historical Fiction for New Authors.
in 2019, author Deborah Swift shared her Go-to Writing Books. She begins with “When I’m talking to beginner writers about writing, I’m always amazed at how many think they ‘just have a talent for it’ and do no research into the craft of writing itself. As writers producing books, I’m amazed at how few pick up a book to help them with their craft.” Deborah breaks out her craft suggestions with topics like: How to Start; How to Make it Commercial; How to Make it Feel Authentic; How to Research.
In Seven Key Lessons, Theresa Hupp shares her experience in: What I Wish I’d Known BEFORE I Wrote a Novel. Theresa offers succinct suggestions on story structure, character development, play to your strengths, revision, writing community, writing vs marketing, and keeping going.
In 5 Elements of a Novel I wrote a post and shared a diagram – I love diagrams – on the 5 critical elements of a story to use as a checklist after completing a major draft of my 2024 novel That Was Then. [By the way, readers call That Was Then, which is a contemporary thriller, a very timely novel.]
Author Ciera Horton McElroy wrote 3 Tips for a Timeless Historical Novel in which she shares three key craft elements to help historical fiction authors ensure the their novels remain timely and relevant: Ground your work in universal themes; Center your novel around characters even more than historical elements; and As much as possible, rely on primary sources.
In 2016, I wrote 8 Steps for Outlining a Novel. While my outlining process has changed somewhat, this is an excellent approach (if I do say so myself) to consider if you plan out your novels rather than writing “by the seat of your pants” approach.
I can’t end this post without mentioning Emma Darwin’s This Itch of Writing – a superb source of craft and technique. Emma has converted her blog into a Substack where her archive (although not her new posts) is available without cost. In it she has a section called The Took-Kit with oodles of great information for authors on topics like Characters, Storytelling, Plot & Structure, Point of View & Narrators, Revising and many more.
If you have favourite posts or sites on the craft of writing, please share them!
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M.K. Tod writes historical fiction. Her latest novel THAT WAS THEN is a contemporary thriller. Mary’s other novels, THE ADMIRAL’S WIFE, PARIS IN RUINS, TIME AND REGRET, LIES TOLD IN SILENCE and UNRAVELLED are available from Amazon, Nook, Kobo, Google Play and iTunes. She can be contacted on Facebook or on her website www.mktod.com.
