From Nothing to Novel

A Resource for Writers

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Wanna create clear conflict and character? Read a picture book!

Wanna create clear conflict and character? Read a picture book!

By Whitney Jones In my last post I talked about how picture books are great at cliff hangers–a device that’s also incredibly useful for novelists. But I’ve got more to say about how reading picture books can help novelists write better fiction. In this week’s installment of how my son is helping me write better books, I’m talking about character and conflict. I know you know that a good novel…

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Confessions of a serial multitasker

Confessions of a serial multitasker

By Julie Tyler Life in the 21st century tempts and enables us to multitask. What with social media and mobile technology, the duties of employment and the call to a creative life, we’re lucky if we can focus fifteen solid minutes of our attention on any one undertaking. So what do we do? We multitask. We listen to an audiobook while settling into downward-facing dog. We thumb important emails on…

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What can Picture Books Teach Us about Writing Novels? Lots!

What can Picture Books Teach Us about Writing Novels? Lots!

By Whitney Jones Any one who’s spent ten minutes around a toddler can understand this particular truth: they are the kings and queens of all they survey. Including books. Including Mommy’s books. Ask me how many novels I’ve read this year … a good round 15 is the answer. Ask me how many picture books I’ve read to my toddler this year alone … GOOD GOD, TOO MANY TO EVEN COUNT. I read at least ten…

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Sign Up for a FREE Novel Strategy Session Today!

Sign Up for a FREE Novel Strategy Session Today!

Starting a novel project can be scary business. At any given moment, we’re asking ourselves, “How do I write a WHOLE BOOK? How do I make it something people want to read? How do I even find the TIME?! Where do I even start?” We’ve been there. And we can tell you that without the right support, the process can be downright daunting. We #FN2N gals are here to help! Tomorrow through Friday, we’re…

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Oh, writing kids books is easy? Howsabout you and me take this outside...

Oh, writing kids books is easy? Howsabout you and me take this outside…

By Whitney Jones I’ve heard it before and I’m bound to hear it again–writing kids books is easy. Because kid books aren’t a challenge for adults to READ, they must be a breeze to write… right? To that I say, “Howsabout you and me take this outside?” Cuz them’s fightin’ words. Y’all… Imma be blunt: writing for kids is just as difficult as writing for adults. Not only do you have to consider the…

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Exploring 5 conditions of the writing life

Exploring 5 conditions of the writing life

By Julie Tyler Hi, writers! We’re closing out our series on myths about writers.  We’ve thoroughly enjoyed calling out those myths, memes, and movies for presenting us writer-types as crazed recluses and MORE. Before we move on, we want to honor who writers really are. In this video, I explore Five Conditions of the Writing Life, based on my interactions for four fellow writers, who are starting…

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I'm ready to query! So... what's stopping me?

I’m ready to query! So… what’s stopping me?

By Whitney Jones I’m ready to put my little self out into the literary world and seek representation. I’m ready to query. So why aren’t I typing in email addresses, copy and pasting my letters into emails, checking submission guidelines twice, three times over to ensure correctness, and hitting send? If you figure it out, could ya tell me? Cuz I don’t have a clue. That’s where this blog post…

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Inside every writer lives an ordinary human being

Inside every writer lives an ordinary human being

By Julie Tyler We’re all familiar with Hollywood’s portrayal of writers. From Jack Nicholson in The Shining to Johnny Depp in Secret Window, countless actors have clad themselves in ragged bathrobes and skulked around a movie set, chain-smoking and shooting tequila, for good measure. Meanwhile, a sheet of paper lies across a vintage typewriter, utterly bereft of words. Why? Because as the writing…

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No, my characters don't talk to me. And yours don't talk to you, either. Here's why.

No, my characters don’t talk to me. And yours don’t talk to you, either. Here’s why.

By Whitney Jones If Julie’s writing pet peeve is the question “Is this story true…?” then mine is the claim that writers’ characters talk to them. Now, now. I hear your grumbling, but hear me out. I realize this is sacrilege. Everyone knows that for good writers, the really creative writers, characters come sauntering into their heads, fully formed and babbling away, a gift from the muses. But…

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Introvert? Extrovert? Forget it! Just WRITE!

Introvert? Extrovert? Forget it! Just WRITE!

By Julie Tyler Just in case there is any lingering confusion, writers do not have to live up to the writing myths that countless movies, 20th-c literary figures, and internet memes have perpetuated about us. In fact, Whitney and I launched this series to burst through as many myths as possible, so that we can hold ourselves to high creative standards. In that spirit, I want to examine an…

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6 Popular Myths About Writing that We Need to Kill Now

By Whitney JonesI love a good writing meme. They allow our community to joke about who writers are and what we do. But some of them also help prop up stereotypes about writers that actually hold us back. They popularize the image of the writer as odd, unreliable, more than quirky, absent-minded, cantankerous, and procrastinating. Now, as humans, all writers can be all of these things or none of…

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Is this a true story? Forget it. Doesn't matter ... does it?

Is this a true story? Forget it. Doesn’t matter … does it?

By Julie Tyler Every day, I tell stories, read stories, talk about stories, think about stories, obsess over stories, dream about stories. Every day, I ask questions about stories, like, What meaning does this story generate? What’s the impact on me? But what I want to talk about today are the questions I make a point never to ask: Is this a true story? Is this based on a true story? Is this…

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You own how many copies of Pride and Prejudice?! A Book Hoarder's Story

You own how many copies of Pride and Prejudice?! A Book Hoarder’s Story

By Whitney Jones “Why so many copies of the same book,” Julie asked me last summer, looking around my living room with a perfectly neutral expression. Julie’s a minimalist, and I imagined that her politeness masked the voice inside her head screaming, “for the love of God–why?!” Sure, one doesn’t necessarily NEED more than one copy of any book, but I NEED more than one copy of some Very Important…

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Five Ways to Squeeze More Writing Into Every. Single. Day.

By Julie Tyler Greetings, writers! If you’re reading FromNothingToNovel, that means you want to write a novel and you want it to be good. To do this you’ll need: talent ideas  a vision for success time to plan time to create time to revise No doubt, talent and ideas seep from your pores. But time is scarce, especially if you juggle a day job, a home life, and even a side hustle. When, exactly,…

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Breaking Up with Pessimistic Me: how writing helped me see clearly

By Whitney Jones Thank GOD 2018 is here! Or, that’s the general vibe on the interwebs. It seems everyone wants to forget that nightmare of a 2017, and I  repeated this idea in the first week of January. The words from Thomas Hardy’s “Darkling Thrush,” about the death of the previous year and the seemingly hopeless journey into the new year, rang easily in my memory: The land’s sharp features…

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Don't kill your darlings! Escort them elsewhere ...

Don’t kill your darlings! Escort them elsewhere …

By Julie Happy New Year, writers! If you’re like me, you’re determined to make 2018 your best year yet! You’ve made a list of resolutions, cleaned out your closet, and stocked your kitchen with only the best food from God’s green earth. The most exciting part of 2018, I bet, are you writing goals. Signal the fireworks! Wooooo-hoooooo! Okay, stop the fireworks for just a second. Do your writing…

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Write Your Novel and Enjoy the Holidays Too! Part II

By Julie Tyler If we want to write during the holidays, we have to set specific goals, plan ahead, and squeeze productivity into tiny slivers of time. In Part I of this series, I offered tips for writing during the holidays without sacrificing meaningful experiences with family and friends. Today, I offer some quick tips to get you all the way to 2018! #1 – Use holiday settings to enhance your…

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