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"Guest: Mary Buckham"

How to Be a Better Hooker (in Writing!) — Guest: Mary Buckham

Fishing hook with text: Improve Our Writing with Hooks

One of the ways we create compelling writing is by creating a need within our readers to keep turning pages. So a common piece of advice is to create hooks—phrases, sentences, ideas, questions, etc.—to fuel that need within readers. Today, Mary Buckham’s here to touch on the 9 types of hooks and to answer frequent questions about hooks.

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March 31, 2015

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Writing Active Settings, Part 1 — Guest: Mary Buckham

Place setting on a table with text: Using Point of View to Bring Settings to Life

The trick to sharing setting information (which our readers do need) without dragging down the pace is to write active descriptions. Active descriptions let the reader imagine the setting in their mind, keep them anchored in the story, and slip in information so seamlessly that they never realize they’re reading descriptions.

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July 22, 2014

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Why Is Head Hopping Considered Lazy Writing?

Cat asleep on a rug with text: Is Our Writing "Lazy"?

Several writing craft issues tend to be hallmarks of what’s called “lazy writing.” The practice of head hopping is usually considered lazy writing, but we might not understand why it earns that label. Let’s learn more and see how we can avoid head hopping and the “lazy writing” trap.

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May 1, 2018

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How to Create Scene Endings that Hook Readers

Chain links reaching up to clouds with text: How to End a Scene and Pull Readers Forward

We’ve been talking about the difference types of transitions we might create between scenes and plot events. Today, we’re focusing on the types of sentences that will strengthen our scene endings (and thus our scenes).

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December 19, 2017

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