LIZORAE

It's Lizorae's first fifth week of the month! For every fifth week, I'm going to share what's been going on with my blog and general updates. This is something I haven't seen any other writing bloggers do, but hey, let's break the system! I think doing these updates will help connecting with you guys because what's this blog for without you? If you're here just for the writing tips, I get you. But stick around for a bit because I'll get to the best posts so far. Milestones  On December 2019,  I set up Lizorae! I had no idea about branding or how to use social media or what the blogging biz is like. But I soon learnt. I'm still not an expert, but I'm definitely more confident. Since then, I've changed my branding an embarrassing three times. Within three months. And I'm probably going to change it again. I know it's not really the best way to go, but I'd rather do it know in the beginning than later. If I could go...

Recently, I read a novelty book series. I'm not going to name it because it's not a story I would recommend to other people, but it was the only book I could find at that time. Even though I'm not naming, I'm still counting this as a Lessons From The Media post. One thing that stood out from this series was the typography. It was... interesting  to say the least . (Read: it was way too distracting and hard to read.) From this book, I've come up with a list of seven typography sins you must never commit. 1. Overpopulation of caps.  Source: Imgur Having caps lock on for any part of text is bound to get attention. That's the point of capital letters. (Apart from the start of sentences and Proper Nouns.) It's also why some authors think they should use caps for EMPHASIS and for shouting matches. No. It can make your book look amateurish and like you're trying too hard. It's not a good impression to make. Worst of all, it's hard to re...

Bloggers, vloggers and entertainment tip givers are shooting down cliches everywhere. Watch out for this cliche! Watch out for that cliche! But there's one form of cliche almost no one goes for: the minority viewpoint. I'm talking about how so many stories are told from the major group instead of the smaller group. I'm talking about how so many stories are told from a classic good instead of a classic bad. Get ready for my challenge for authors to start writing the flip side. A Little Backstory A while ago, I've been reading a bunch of historical fiction about the World Wars. Do you know who the main character was in almost every one of them? That's right. Either a Jew or an evacuee. Sometimes a male soldier.  Source: Tenor Eventually, it became the same thing over and over again. A Jew and their family became devastated by German soldiers and the Jew suffered throughout the whole story. However, they stolidly kept fighting and surviving until the...

Collaborating with other authors has become increasingly popular over the years. Your author buddy can make or break your story. On one hand, your partner can be amazing. On the other hand, not so much. Sometimes, the group just doesn't work. Other times, it may be because you don't know how to collaborate to your best advantage. Here are some tips to help you collaborate with other authors! Before Partnering 1. Get to know each other.  Source: Tenor Before you commit to writing a whole book, or even a series, you want to make sure you actually like the person you're going to be spending a lot of time with. What if that person was unbearable? It's a no brainer. You won't want to spend months, possibly years, trying to work with them. You probably wouldn't make it a week. Having some time to befriend the other person is vital. Don't talk about your story, or at least, don't focus on it. It can make both of you go into writing mode and chances...

Haven't we all heard this? You like that one scene? KILL IT OFF. You like that character? KILL IT OFF. You think this is pretty cool? KILL IT OFF. Yep, we're talking about killing your darlings. Many people have said that you definitely should do this. And sure, it has credit. But do you really have to? What It Means It means, whatever you think it's awesome or the best ever in your story, take it, smash that delete button and stomp on it like ants trying to steal your sandwich. And better yet, this sandwich has CHEESE. And this cheese has SUGAR. It's that good.  This term was first coined by American author William Faulkner, although some say it goes back further to an English author and surname collector Sir Arthur Quiller-Couch who said "murder your darlings".  But because I'm a firm believer in keeping things modern, I'm going to call it "kill your bae". While it's the shortened version of "baby" in English...