Kategorie: Schreibwerkstatt

Every mystery writer knows: the resolution of a mystery should never be anticipated. But this much can be said: If your crime novel or thriller ends up in the wrong "genre drawer", you will lose valuable readers and book sales.
Especially as a writer of suspense literature, you should know the difference between a crime novel and a thriller. What characterizes a classic crime novel and what is a thriller? We explain the typical characteristics of both genres and clarify why a clear categorization of your book as a thriller or crime novel is so important.

"German Lesson" by Siegfried Lenz, "Shining" by Stephen King and "The Plague" by Camus have one thing in common: they are all about writer's block. The fear of the blank page. You know how it is: the famous first sentence just won't come to you? Or you're stuck in the middle of a novel and can't get any further? Don't despair! Even the most famous authors have had it once. There are usually harmless reasons behind writer's block. But how can you overcome your writer's block?

Every life is unique. When you write a (auto)biography, you have to convince your readers that the life story you write is extraordinary and worth reading. In this article we would like to support you in this. We give you tips on how to proceed with the structure, research and layout.

How do you quote correctly and avoid copyright infringement? There are a few rules you should know. We also look at the legally correct use of photos and illustrations, which are referred to as image citations in case law. Here's how to stay out of legal trouble.

Passing on knowledge and distinguishing yourself as an expert - these are important goals of a non-fiction book, guidebook or reference book. If you want to write a non-fiction book, your name stands for expertise. But how do you conceptualize and structure a nonfiction book, find the right writing style, and develop a compelling cover? And how can you successfully market your expertise as an expert in your field?

You can probably think of ten characteristics of the main character of your novel - whether it's their appearance, their character or the circumstances in which they grew up. Believable, lively characters are essential for a good story. But how do you keep track of all the traits and characteristics? A character sheet can help you with that.

Anyone who likes to read has found the ending of a story unsuccessful. Boring. Or illogical. Or too open-ended. Why not make up your own ending? Fanfiction was born out of such thoughts. Lovers of a story just keep telling it. But is it okay to do that? And where can you publish it?

You might think writing a children's book is easy. But little readers and listeners are often more demanding than adults. You shouldn't underestimate that if you want to become a children's book author. Not only does descriptive writing matter, but there are also important basics to consider in language, word choice, and scope. Which topics are particularly appealing to children and how can you illustrate your children's book?

A stylistically sophisticated text lives not only from authentic characters and a logical plot structure, but also from varied sentence beginnings. It's not just about the first sentence, which should immediately captivate the reader. How do you manage to avoid monotonous text passages and not have the sentences start with the same words all the time?

Does the reader experience everything that happens in your novel's world or only what your perspective character sees? Which narrative perspective you write from is one of the key design features of your book. What perspectives are there, how do they affect the reader, and how do you decide what best fits your novel?