NAIWE | Karin Beery | Activity https://naiwe.org/members/karinbeery/activity/ Activity feed for Karin Beery. Wed, 08 Apr 2026 00:55:54 -0400 https://buddypress.org/?v= en-US 30 hourly 2 5476fdc8c369cb073dc121819855eddf Karin Beery wrote a new post on the site Karin Beery's Blog https://karinbeery.naiwe.com/?p=179 Fri, 20 Dec 2024 01:15:13 -0500 Turning good manuscripts into great books.

My business motto sets a standard for my clients so they understand my editing style, including why I tend to be nit-picky about details many readers might not […]

]]> e8ae051feb5e12c14021aecf6368823e Karin Beery wrote a new post on the site Karin Beery's Blog https://karinbeery.naiwe.com/?p=176 Fri, 22 Nov 2024 01:00:06 -0500 Have you ever read a book that had so much description you got lost in the writing, but not in a good way—in a what-were-we-talking-about way?

Or how about this—the handsome hero in a romance novel is shown dow […]

]]> 672734ed4e467df442fa251f93d674ad Karin Beery wrote a new post on the site Karin Beery's Blog https://karinbeery.naiwe.com/?p=172 Tue, 22 Oct 2024 01:25:26 -0400 Last month we talked about author voice (click here if you missed it). How is that different from character voice, and what do you need to know about character voice?

Author Voice vs. Character Voice

Your […]

]]> bbefe189f31ae6a97e43ccc1b5678e6e Karin Beery wrote a new post on the site Karin Beery's Blog http://karinbeery.naiwe.com/?p=168 Mon, 23 Sep 2024 13:51:10 -0400 One of the most common reasons authors push back against suggested edits is author voice—they’re convinced that everything they write is part of their voice, therefore any edits will change their voi […]

]]> 17f3d95becdd7b303f955a02aabd7c46 Karin Beery wrote a new post on the site Karin Beery's Blog https://karinbeery.naiwe.com/?p=164 Tue, 20 Aug 2024 01:26:47 -0400 Every novel needs dialogue, but what is it, and how do you write it well? I’m glad you asked.

What is dialogue?

At the most basic level, dialogue is a conversation between characters. Like conversations in t […]

]]> 0638afcc9cf5ce7579862079f0613ff5 Karin Beery wrote a new post on the site Karin Beery's Blog http://karinbeery.naiwe.com/?p=160 Mon, 22 Jul 2024 12:34:30 -0400 One of the best ways to find issues in your manuscript is to ask for feedback from others. Once you have that information, you can use it to find and fix problem areas in your story. A lot of authors understand […]

]]> 8ac095be937aa2258c960e01174dbdc6 Karin Beery wrote a new post on the site Karin Beery's Blog https://karinbeery.naiwe.com/?p=156 Thu, 20 Jun 2024 02:00:50 -0400 Most writers know that the first draft of their manuscript will never sell, but how many drafts does a writer have to write?

Honestly, the writing portion of a novel takes the shortest amount of time. The […]

]]> ba45dec3907fe9b1104eb39a74465945 Karin Beery wrote a new post on the site Karin Beery's Blog https://karinbeery.naiwe.com/?p=149 Mon, 20 May 2024 01:00:51 -0400 Conflict, suspense, and tension are not the same things. They’re often used interchangeably, but they shouldn’t be. Each one of these has a different role and performs a different function in fic […]

]]> b794fb9c58ef4341ef4a53887e96379d Karin Beery wrote a new post on the site Karin Beery's Blog https://karinbeery.naiwe.com/?p=145 Sat, 20 Apr 2024 04:00:41 -0400 Fiction genres seem to be spawning. Contemporary and historical fiction are now too broad of descriptors for readers who know exactly what they want: historical romantic suspense or contemporary magical realism. […]

]]> dd7c06996e65d45767ac61b286e9da5e Karin Beery wrote a new post on the site Karin Beery's Blog https://karinbeery.naiwe.com/?p=141 Wed, 20 Mar 2024 06:00:53 -0400 Once the go-to point of view for novels, the omniscient POV isn’t as popular as it once was, but it’s making a reappearance in modern fiction. Many authors assume omniscient is easier to write because of its bro […]

]]> d967b8c034454aa34e500547ed22508f Karin Beery wrote a new post on the site Karin Beery's Blog https://karinbeery.naiwe.com/?p=138 Tue, 20 Feb 2024 10:00:20 -0500 When it comes to captivating your audience, point of view (POV) matters. While there are no right or wrong places to use different POVs, there are absolutely genres and styles that work well with specific POVs. […]

]]> 6925d485ffd901d8a37674cabb637945 Karin Beery commented on the post, Why Novels Need Story Structure, on the site Karin Beery's Blog https://karinbeery.naiwe.com/why-novels-need-story-structure/#comment-9 Fri, 26 Jan 2024 18:30:31 -0500 I’m glad it helped!

]]> 62a1883b526a023f82bbab609f6f9029 Karin Beery wrote a new post on the site Karin Beery's Blog https://karinbeery.naiwe.com/?p=134 Sat, 20 Jan 2024 01:40:24 -0500 Every main character in every book has a backstory, but the readers don’t need to see or understand it all. There are times, however, when it’s necessary to include backstory in your manuscript to either f […]

]]> 67baa6a52a7065b2fc65c46622373af3 Karin Beery wrote a new post on the site Karin Beery's Blog https://karinbeery.naiwe.com/?p=130 Wed, 20 Dec 2023 01:27:31 -0500 Have you ever walked into your regular grocery store and cringed because they rearranged the store? You find dog food in the bread aisle and paper plates where the cereal used to be. Everything you need is […]

]]> 4b32a3fdf51abc354339409e49b02146 Karin Beery wrote a new post on the site Karin Beery's Blog https://karinbeery.naiwe.com/?p=127 Mon, 20 Nov 2023 01:00:55 -0500 Confession: I use Grammarly. I know other writing professional who also use it. But Grammarly, ProWriting Aid, and PefectIt will never replace an editor. Despite the unlimited capacity of AI, there are a few […]

]]> 905d76bc71bdc820e8d1d88066d90a41 Karin Beery wrote a new post on the site Karin Beery's Blog https://karinbeery.naiwe.com/?p=115 Mon, 16 Oct 2023 01:00:53 -0400 With 15+ years of experience writing and editing fiction, I can teach you a lot about plot, characters, style, pacing, and more, but I didn’t invent most of the techniques that I teach. To be completely honest, I […]

]]> 3f143cffaa89655120bf7538c780b60c Karin Beery wrote a new post on the site Karin Beery's Blog https://karinbeery.naiwe.com/?p=109 Mon, 18 Sep 2023 01:00:46 -0400 Characters are, of course, the lifeblood of fiction. All the twisty turny plot elements in the world won’t matter to readers if they are not bonded to a character they care about.” Just Write by James Scott Bel […]

]]> 6ca2e9c8f4ca5f6e4016300e0f293126 Karin Beery wrote a new post on the site Karin Beery's Blog https://karinbeery.naiwe.com/?p=105 Mon, 21 Aug 2023 01:07:26 -0400 Most people associate editing with fixing punctuation and grammar mistakes, but it starts much earlier than that. In fact, if you start with the PUGS—punctuation, usage, grammar, and syntax—you’re wasting time […]

]]> 08feed231a750e976d16f5df9983329f Karin Beery wrote a new post on the site Karin Beery's Blog http://karinbeery.naiwe.com/?p=101 Fri, 21 Jul 2023 01:05:06 -0400 Most novelists know they need to write a synopsis for their books, and there are lots of resources to teach you how to write your synopsis, but why do you need one?

Here’s the good news—a synopsis is not an exa […]

]]> 83cc350de43f4a4ee393f76bca1900c0 Karin Beery wrote a new post on the site Karin Beery's Blog https://karinbeery.naiwe.com/?p=97 Mon, 26 Jun 2023 01:13:46 -0400 Most writers are familiar with the Happily Ever After (HEA), but not every genre—and not every story—needs an HEA. In fact, every story needs the same type of ending: the Satisfying Ending.

Writers and rea […]

]]> 6914288c8f6c872a84fe2de5979984cc Karin Beery commented on the post, Sell More Novels: Know Your Audience, on the site Karin Beery's Blog https://karinbeery.naiwe.com/sell-more-novels-know-your-audience/#comment-3 Thu, 15 Jun 2023 16:20:48 -0400 I don’t have a specific article, but there are definite trends in the industry, and a few publications have written about the rising popularity in genre vs. literary in the past decade. For me, the best litmus […]

]]> d7ac0ac7d3672a515be139e0295ab07c Karin Beery wrote a new post on the site Karin Beery's Blog https://karinbeery.naiwe.com/?p=93 Mon, 22 May 2023 01:00:46 -0400 Have you ever turned your TV to the Food Network and found a mystery movie? Or turned to the Hallmark Channel to watch the hockey playoffs?

Of course not!

When it comes to genres, television stations have it […]

]]> a0987f6960813b34a04b15c6f3e9dc98 Karin Beery wrote a new post on the site Karin Beery's Blog https://karinbeery.naiwe.com/?p=81 Fri, 21 Apr 2023 01:00:39 -0400 Have you ever been in a restaurant when the people next to you started arguing? Talk about tension! Putting a fight or argument into your story is a great way to add tension, but if you rely solely on personal […]

]]> 33f57bc7bb9fb5e96ce4098b2ce9caca Karin Beery wrote a new post on the site Karin Beery's Blog https://karinbeery.naiwe.com/?p=89 Wed, 22 Mar 2023 01:00:45 -0400 Writing the novel you want to read might be fun, but it doesn’t mean your novel will sell (or even get published). If you want to write novels that sell, you have to write for more than yourself—you have to […]

]]> 157a5d23534054f9a40c74e49e9d60c8 Karin Beery wrote a new post on the site Karin Beery's Blog https://karinbeery.naiwe.com/?p=78 Wed, 01 Mar 2023 01:00:53 -0500 One of the great things about fiction is the opportunity to step into someone else’s head and not only experience a new and different life, but to feel the excitement, anguish, and fear right along with the c […]

]]> 8a1ed6f7fa27e2636c4fa1665155111d Karin Beery wrote a new post on the site Karin Beery's Blog http://karinbeery.naiwe.com/?p=74 Thu, 09 Feb 2023 23:11:11 -0500 When it comes to fiction writing, simple is best.

Too often, new writers want to do something new and original to capture an agent or publisher’s attention. They create over-the-top characters, put them into […]

]]> 531c309703eef816462c295dfbc1d029 Karin Beery wrote a new post on the site Karin Beery's Blog http://karinbeery.naiwe.com/?p=56 Tue, 27 Dec 2022 19:10:23 -0500 What’s the biggest roadblock to your writing/publishing success?
What if you could remove it (or at least find a way around it)?

When I started editing, my goal was to help writers write better b […]

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