Category Archives: Novels

The Secret to Emotional Prose

Posted on May 19, 2026 by knlistman

Black Beauty is one of my favorite books because of the emotional nature of the story. As I read it in third grade I cared for that noble horse as his life became a series of downward trends. That was … Continue reading →

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Is “Show Don’t Tell” Good Advice?

Posted on December 22, 2025 by knlistman

When running out of advice to help a struggling author improve their novel, a more seasoned author may point out the benefits of showing rather than telling. What exactly does that mean? Unless you are producing a picture book, it … Continue reading →

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Why Not AI?

Posted on June 22, 2025 by knlistman

I write under a curse that requires me to experiment and revise as I create. Despite considering ideas, creating outlines to guide me and re-reading my initial work to improve it, the quality of my writing is not consistent. Unfortunately, … Continue reading →

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A Stuck Character

Posted on November 21, 2024 by knlistman

The character that I’ve imagined is stuck. Literally. He’s in solitary confinement, or in a dungeon, or abandoned on an island, and I know how he’s going to escape. But, for now he’s stuck. Should I just jump ahead to … Continue reading →

Posted in Characters, Drama and movies, Ideas for writing, Literary devices, Literature, Novels, Story structure, Teaching writing skills, Trends in books | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Do You Know What Polyandry Means?

Posted on September 19, 2024 by knlistman

If you are familiar with Clint Eastwood’s first movie, a musical called Paint Your Wagon you’d realize that a woman having more than one husband is not a recent idea. If you recognize “polyandry” as an ancient Greek term for … Continue reading →

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The Happiness Requirement

Posted on September 9, 2024 by knlistman

“And they lived happily ever after” is not just a matter of fairy tales. A Happily Ever After (HEA) ending remains a favorite of many readers and has likely been one ever since stories were first told. In this age … Continue reading →

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What’s the Big Deal about Readability?

Posted on July 5, 2024 by knlistman

Today, writers rarely use semicolons, which provide a level of pause between a comma and a period. Authors have declared war on adverbs, forms of the verb to be, or filter words that identify a character’s thoughts. Others want to … Continue reading →

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My POV Journey

Posted on April 18, 2024 by knlistman

Initially, when I was eight years old, I started writing in the third person point of view and all my characters were animals. Did I mention that Black Beauty was one of my favorite books? A few years later, I … Continue reading →

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Journeying away from the Hero’s Journey

Posted on March 21, 2024 by knlistman

Want a plot that’s been used successfully thousands of times? Research Campbell’s monomyth or simply read Christopher Vogler’s book on the hero’s journey. The hero’s journey is an idea manufactured as a result of popular literature from Greco-Roman times. However, … Continue reading →

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A Matter of Ego

Posted on February 22, 2024 by knlistman

No one really writes a novel without considering the plot beforehand. Nor do they outline the events so tightly that they know each step the protagonist will take and never vary from this initial plan. So why do we argue … Continue reading →

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