Showing results by author "Rob Bignell" in All Categories

For beginning writers, point of view often is the most difficult element to master. Without really understanding the role point of view plays in storytelling, aspiring authors frequently select the wrong one. Sometimes they prefer to write or read a specific point of view, so they just go with that, even though it's not the best choice for their story. Mastering Point of View addresses those and many other issues writers face with this element of fiction. It examines the three main points of view – first, third and second – and the different forms each one can take. It looks at when ...

Read any writing tip article or book, and one piece of advice you're sure to see is "Show don't tell." For many new writers - and even established ones - showing rather than telling is downright confusing. Just what does an editor mean when she notes "Show don't tell" on your manuscript? Mastering Show Don't Tell looks at how to identify and fix all the places where telling - or exposition - rears up in your writing: backstory; info dumps; backfill; vague descriptions; irrelevant character details; emotional states; motivational tells; narration; summarizing; poorly written dialogue; and ...

You’ve written a short story or a novel. You keep receiving rejection slips from editors and publishing houses … and now you’re not sure it’s good enough to self-publish. You know your story needs a rewrite yet don’t know how to improve it … besides, work or school is hectic, the house needs to be cleaned, and the kids demand your attention, so who has time? … But we bet you can find just 7 minutes a day to achieve your dream of getting that story published. If you can, this is the book for you. This practical, how-to guide takes you step-by-step through improving your story ...

Suffering from writer’s block? Self-doubt about your talent? Has creative writing lost its joy? With "Writing Affirmations: A Collection of Positive Messages to Inspire Writers," you can reclaim the pleasure of writing and pen the book you’ve always dreamed of. Respected and award-winning author Rob Bignell offers uplifting, meaningful phrases that can be read out loud or internalized weekly over the course of a year. Writing prompts and tips follow each affirmation, giving you the inspiration and motivation to keep writing. When you’ve completed this book, you’ll be able to say “...

UPDATED FOR 2023! Imagine a place where several waterfalls tumble more than eight stories over ancient rock, where you can hike to a mountain vista offering 100-mile views, where countless streams and rivers rush over riffles and cascades through dense verdant forests, where you can traipse past historic pioneer buildings or stand in awe before a rare, majestic elk that haven’t been seen in these parts since George Washington’s time. The place is real: It’s called Great Smoky Mountains National Park. America’s most visited national park, more than 10 million people annually enter ...

LET’S SELL YOUR BOOK! Most indie authors are nervous about buying ads for their books and for good reason. They wonder if the ads really will work or if it’s just dumping money into a bottomless hole. They even have been told not to buy them. I used to think that way too. Then I began to hear from a small number of authors that they actually were having good luck with Amazon ads. A lot of tweaking was necessary, but eventually they figured out a formula that worked. So I gave it a try. Within weeks, I was earning twice as much as I spent on ads, and my sales tripled. Sell Your Book with...

One of the most important tools in your writing kit is dialogue. It can help develop your characters, move the plot forward, increase tension, and establish a scene’s mood. Unfortunately, sometimes novice writers write dull dialogue. Like a flat tire that slows your vehicle to a near stop, so dull dialogue can quickly bring your story to a near halt. Write Engaging, Natural Dialogue is all about helping beginning writers better understand how to pen conversations between characters. If you’ve already written a story and know the dialogue is weak, the tips in this book can help you ...

THE ONLY GUIDE TO SAGUARO NATIONAL PARK'S TOP SIGHTS! Imagine a place where you can hike amid saguaro cactus forests or see glorious sunrises and sunsets...where you can explore centuries-old petroglyph sites and abandoned desert mines at which fortunes were made and lost...where you can traipse amid a desert alive with colorful wildflower blooms or spot hardy desert wildlife ranging from coyotes to roadrunners. The place is real: It's called Saguaro National Park. But with the park's incredible size of nearly 145 square miles, how can you ensure that you see its main sights when ...

Imagine a place where granite monoliths rise out of the ground in fantastical shapes...where otherworldly Joshua trees grow as dense forests...where secluded palm oases beckon weary desert travelers...where the ruins of old ranches and gold mines stand as monuments to men’s Herculean efforts and shattered dreams...where bare rugged mountains loom over vast sand dunes...where the Milky Way glitters at night like no man-made light show ever could. The place is real: It’s called Joshua Tree National Park. Located in Southern California, Joshua Tree is an increasingly popular destination ...

Imagine a place where dunes of white sand rise taller than a house and seemingly forever into the horizon, where a trail’s route shifts every day as wind remolds the terrain, where more than 800 animal species call an inhospitable desert home, where you can walk the shores of an ancient lake that mammoths and saber-toothed cats once drank from. The place is real: It’s called White Sands National Park. But with the park’s incredible size of nearly 228 square miles, how can you ensure that you see its main sights when vacationing or driving through? That’s what Best Sights to See at ...

Imagine a place where a mountain rises 10,000 feet above your trail, where you can hike lush desert oases amid a foreboding desert landscape, where you can explore verdant canyons with waterfalls, where rare bighorn sheep stare down upon you as clinging to sheer cliffs, where you can traipse past the homes of movie stars and by ancient Native American ruins. The place is real: It’s called Palm Springs and the Coachella Valley. With the valley and surrounding mountains covering hundreds of square miles, how can you ensure that you experience its many natural wonders? That’s what "Day ...

Writer’s block is real...and you've got it. There are many reasons people get it – their mind is preoccupied, the environment they’re writing in isn’t conducive to creating, the idea they’ve come up with isn’t particularly good, a lack of imagination or skill to develop the story, coming to the laptop with no idea to write about, and many more. Overcoming Writer's Block helps you understand the cause of your writer’s block then goes into detail on strategies for overcoming each one. Part of the Storytelling 101 Quick Read series, Overcoming Writer’s Block answers all of your...

THE BEST GUIDE TO ENJOYING WISCONSIN’S TOP FALL COLOR TRAILS! Autumn in Wisconsin is like living in a painting. Mother Nature celebrates with masterful brushstrokes, from the brilliant yellows, oranges and red of maples to the scarlet and russets of oaks, from the ambers and golds of aspen and birch to the crimson and purples of sumac and white ash. Accenting it are the fiery reds of prairie grasses, the bronze cornstalks of farm fields, the oranges of pumpkins and gourds, and the carmines of plump ripe apples and cranberries. Nature finds her palette when September arrives. Wisconsin’s...

For those new to self-publishing, uploading your ebook often is a complex and frustrating process. Unfamiliar terms are used, questions that you as an author have never thought of answering are asked, and when errors occur there’s often no real explanation as to how fix them. And while online “tutorials” are offered, the articles either state the obvious or appear to have been written by software engineers rather than someone who actually understands your plight. Upload Your Ebook to KindleDP corrects all of that. The explanations in this book make the process easy to understand and ...

Imagine a place where five waterfalls spill over billion-year-old rock, all within a mile of one another, where both incredible vistas of the world’s largest freshwater lake and paths past an array of sweet-scented wildflowers await, where you can traipse through historic handcrafted stone buildings or alongside a creek meandering about an evergreen forest. The place is real: It’s called Gooseberry Falls State Park, which many consider the crown jewel of Minnesota’s multitude of natural gems. With this book, you can: • Plan a day of fun family-friendly activities • Learn the best ...

THE ONLY WRITING PROMPT GUIDE YOU’LL EVER NEED! You’re stuck on what to write so check out some writing prompts to spur your creativity. But they don’t help you out of your writing rut…sure, there are some neat ideas but none of them actually lead to a story. That’s because writing prompts all too often miss a key element: conflict. Conflict is the heart of every story, and without it you’re just writing a journal entry. Storystarters presents more than 200 writing prompts centered on exciting and interesting conflicts for your protagonist to solve. The prompts are divided among...

The Grand Canyon rightly defies description. Most who see it for the first time say it reminds them of a majestic painting, appropriately suggesting it’s a place that only can be visualized by actually gazing upon it. “Hittin’ the Trail: Grand Canyon National Park” is the only complete guide to the parks’ great day hiking trails. With one tap of the screen, you can: • Plan days of fun family-friendly activities • Reserve a campsite or lodging • Receive a list of the parks’ current programs • Learn about special kid programs • Find directions, entrance fees, parking ...

Imagine a place where you can traipse beside massive ice age lakes and across some of the oldest known rocks on the planet, where you can hike through green boreal forests during the day and stare at the northern lights dancing against a velvet black sky at night, where you can watch moose graze in ponds and bald eagles soar overhead while gray wolves howl in the distance. The place is real: It’s called Voyageurs National Park. But with the national park’s incredible size of 370 square miles, how can you ensure that you see its main sights when vacationing or driving through? That’s ...

Imagine a place where magnificent peaks soar more than 2.5 miles high, where alpine lakes reflect snow-capped mountains and evergreens in crystal clear water, where blooming wildflowers fill meadows with color while towering forests shade sun-dappled paths, where rushing creeks and waterfalls are as common as driveways in the suburbs. The place is real: it’s called Rocky Mountain National Park. But with the park’s incredible size of 415 square miles and the large crowds, how can you ensure that you’ll see its main sights when vacationing or driving through? That’s what Best Sights ...

UPDATED FOR 2025! You’ve self-published your book, but now what? You can’t make marketing it a full-time job … work or school is hectic, the house needs to be cleaned, the kids demand your attention … But we bet you can find just 7 minutes a day to increase your book’s sales. If you can, this is the book for you. This practical, how-to guide takes you step-by-step through implementing a simple but effective marketing plan for your book – with just 7 minutes of work required a day. You’ll complete short, skillful exercises that allow you to publicize and sell your novel or ...