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Character voices can be challenging to develop, especially for authors. In screenwriting, you can use the voices and facial expressions of the actors. But when you are penning a book, the only way to make your characters feel alive is to utilise words. However, developing impressionable characters depends on your ability to create characters that are:

• Verbally captivating
• Distinctive and memorable

However, the guide below will help you achieve it seamlessly.           

How to Inject Character Voice in a Story

• Use first-person viewpoint

In first-person narration, the narrator assumes the identity of a character and tells the story from their perspective. In the narration, the pronoun ‘I’ is often utilised (or we, if the narrator is speaking as a member of a group). You will hear that character’s version of what happens, whether they are directly involved in the action or are more of an observer from a distance. Furthermore, it means that a character’s perceptions and descriptions might be influenced by their opinions, mood, experiences, or even skewed notions of what is heard or seen.

• Unreliable narrating

An unreliable narrating style is when your character withholds information from the reader, lies to them, or misleads them, thereby raising dust on the validity of the story as a whole. When your character’s voice is injected using this technique, their voice is exaggerated and filled with deception, which helps the reader understand the personality of the character in question.

• Third-person omniscient

The omniscient narrator is fully aware of the plot and the characters in a story. This implies that the author can use any character in a piece of literature to portray a character’s voice through their personal viewpoints and innermost thoughts.

• Third-person limited narration

In a third-person limited narration, the writer is objective and unaware of the feelings or ideas of the characters. The story is told in an observational style by the character. In this technique, character voice and growth are entirely communicated through the language and actions of the characters.

• Use stream of consciousness narration

By employing this method, you can capture the emotional and psychological reality of the character’s brain movement from one point to another. It will help you depict the human tendency in your character’s thought pattern, as human thoughts are not always linear, logical or well structured. The technique will enable your reader to feel more connected with your characters. For instance, instead of saying

 ‘When I get to work, I will say good morning to Ndifreke and start writing’, you can say: ‘should I greet Ndifereke when I get to work; should I just get to my desk and start writing? How you inject your character’s voice into your story is very important in creating a bond between your reader and your character. However, becoming a master at it depends on the level of effort you are ready to put into honing the skill. For more tips to improve your writing craft, click here

Knowing that your blog is one of the most reliable sites for information is very thrilling. However, having your blog rank among the most visited blogs on a search engine does not happen overnight; it requires intentional and consistent effort.

If you are a trying to carve a writing niche, here are some guidelines to help you grow your blog with the right articles:

Write About Subjects That Interest Your Readers

As a writer, you can be tempted to write about the thing that sparks your interest, whether it’s the hottest topic in your field, recent events, or even a rant. However, these entries have a limited shelf life. Immediately after you publish such, you can experience a surge in traffic. But as soon as the story becomes stale, your blog’s readers will vanish completely. So to grow your blog with the right articles, write about subjects that are perennial yet popular.

Explore Attractive Headlines

Your headline will determine whether someone clicks through to read your piece or skips it. Your headline should pique your reader’s interest, making them want to click. But how do you write such a headline? The basis of your headline is already partially established if you’re matching search intent. For instance, your headline should include a specific number and the year if your topic is ‘BEST LOAN APPS’. When your headline includes the specific number of apps and the year that the apps are currently ranked among the best, it will read ‘TOP 20 LOAN APPS IN 2022’.

More so, ensure your headline is detailed if you want it to attract more readers to your article. The simpler it is to read your headline, the more readers will be attracted to your article. Let your headline nail the subject matter on the head. Don’t make it keep your readers guessing because readers’ attention spans are usually short. So, ensure your headline hooks them on the go. In addition to this, using physical, real-world objects provide specificity. Try ‘6 Tasty Beverages to Help You lose 1lb in Weight Per Week’ as an example, rather than ‘Beverages for Weight loss’.

Write SEO-Based Articles

Search engine optimisation is a good tool for enhancing the accessibility of your article on the internet. To achieve this, ensure your articles are laced with keywords. What you must know about SEO-based articles is that you are writing the article for people first. As such, your article must provide value to those people. Write an article that is a valuable source of information. Before you begin, write out the most common words people look for when searching for an article of that nature on the internet, and let those words form your keywords.

Let Your Article Be Skimmable

Ensure you use bullet points or subtitles to distinguish text blocks as you begin to script your article. Be conscious that online audiences prefer to scan through an article rather than read the entire body. Therefore, if the article requires you to list objects or steps, it is advisable to divide them into bullet points so that your paragraphs will be easier to read. Your paragraphs should have at most five sentences.

Let Your Readers Know What to Do

Inform your readers of the action to undertake with the information you’ve given them as you hit the conclusion of your article. Stating a call to action (CTA) can be a smart idea. Be mindful that people rarely visit blogs to read aggressive articles. Give keen attention to your call to action and try to appeal to a budding subscriber to take a small step through the guidelines you have provided instead of forcing the action on them. Your CTA can be requesting your reader to visit your blog for tips on how to start a small business or buy a book you have written.

 Read It Again

Immediately you are done writing your article, leave it and return later when you have formed a new point of view of the subject matter you are treating. Double check the article for grammatical errors and ensure your thoughts are clearly spelt out and logically flow from one idea to the next. Check whether you can fix an essential keyword into your headline by reading the article again.

However, you can visit here to read some articles that give practical guidance on growing your blog with the right article.

Let’s assume you have a new writing project on a subject you’re interested in. You may even have had a series of debates on with your friends, so you are apt with ideas, facts, and all the data you need to execute the project.

 To make it more profound, you have just churned out an impeccable piece a few days back, and you are certain that you’ll relish the new project experience, so you are anxiously waiting to kick it off.

Sadly, as the D day approaches, you postpone with an assurance of commencing on a new date, but as the new date approaches, you lack the energy to open your writing pad. Instead, you feel tired and stressed – you’re experiencing writer’s burnout, not block.

Writer’s burnout is different from writer’s block. Writer’s block is a writer’s inability to churn out words on the blank space before him. Writer’s burnout does not necessarily affect a writer’s ideas of what to write; it attacks his energy and impedes his productivity. 

This happens when you are stressed or overworked for a long period. There are times when work takes its toll on you and affects your ability to deliver your deliverables. Burnout is the exhaustion that comes after a stretch of hard work, irrespective of your profession; it doesn’t diminish your credibility.

However, a writer does not only experience burnout from actually writing alone. Other writing activities, like reviewing a project repeatedly, rewriting a previous work many times, editing different manuscripts, the stress of publishing a manuscript, and the stress of sourcing a viable platform or distribution channels for our work can trigger writer’s burnout.

Signs of Writer’s Burnout

Writer’s burnout is easy to confuse with writer’s block, and so many writers treat writer’s block when they are experiencing burnout. Before answering the question, ‘am I experiencing writer’s burnout?’ you need to understand the signs and symptoms. Some of the signs include:

Depression: Being depressed while doing your job as a writer is a pointer to the fact that you have hit your burnout.

Unfulfillment: There is a liberating experience a writer relishes each time he completes a project. He looks forward to the next one with excitement, but once this feeling is eroded, burnout is gradually taking its toll.

Lack of Interest: Writing is a gratifying experience for a writer; hence every new project is embraced, especially when it’s your genre or an intriguing subject matter. When there is no interest in projects across board, you are suffering from writer’s burnout.

Fatigue: There is no cause for alarm when you feel tired after a hectic day. But when tiredness and exhaustion spill into each passing day and make you unable to do your job, or you feel tired without a clear reason, you need to check it.

Procrastination: Rescheduling a job for a later date is not bad, but when you continuously alter the date without a plausible reason, you’re having burnout.

Lack of Commitment: In this case, you feel unconcerned about your deadlines. You don’t care if you meet up with it or not.

Why Writer’s Burnout Happens

It’s good to have lots of projects on your desk that keep you busy at a very fast pace, but if you don’t slow down, you may experience burnout. Even if you are not overloaded with work, other reasons could cause you to experience writer’s burnout, and some of them are:

High Expectations: In the creative space, you are as good as in your last job. So oftentimes, new projects are usually in competition with the previous projects. When the expectation becomes overwhelming, it can lead to burnout.

Negative Feedback: When a writer’s work is met with constant criticism, it can trigger burnout.

Setting Unrealistic Targets: Even though it is commendable to be goal-oriented, the writing space is a creative space, and as a result, the propelling force the writer needs may not always be under his control. When a writer’s goal is not met, it can cause burnout in the writer.

Absence of Support: A writer saddled with other pressing responsibilities, like child care and its overwhelming demands, without moral, psychological, or financial support can suffer burnout.

Lack of Sleep: Sleep is very important in everyone’s life, including writers. Not getting adequate sleep can cause a writer to burn out.

Stress: Like all other professionals, a stressed writer can develop a subconscious dislike for his job.

Excess Workload: Sitting on numerous projects can trigger a writer’s burnout over time, especially when you have tight delivery dates. Another twist is when a writer writes, edits, proofreads, and does the publishing himself.

How To Overcome Writer’s Burnout

Writer’s burnout is not permanent; you can overcome it with the right approach. Here are some helpful tips:

1. Take a Break: Based on the popular axiom that all work without play makes Jack a dull boy, you can walk off the writing space for a short period and explore other creative mediums. You can go on a vacation, picnic, take swimming lessons, visit the cinema, go on a fishing expedition, etc. This will help you rejuvenate and come back refreshed. Even while working, you can treat yourself to some mini breaks – meditate, relax, or simply take a walk.

2. Have Enough Sleep: Sleep is the most potent remedy for stress. It costs nothing; it’s just for you to tweak your to-do- list and allot extended hours to your sleep. No matter the effort you put in to remedy your burnout, if you are not getting enough sleep, it is a futile effort.

3. Get a Hobby: Your hobby is your escape route from professional stress. However, some writers started writing for fun but now write to make a living, thereby losing the fun aspect of the craft due to tight deadlines. If you fall into this category, find a new hobby and seek the slightest opportunity to savour it.

4. Learn to Turn Down: We are usually scared of turning down some jobs because we do not want to bruise the client’s ego, but this can be detrimental to your competence. When the projects on your desk are overwhelming, take a break from new projects and focus on clearing your slate. Do not bite more than you can chew.

5. Spend Time With Your Loved Ones: There are people who light up our mood anytime, any day. Find time to savour memorable moments with them. Ensure they are the types that support your goals, ready to give you a listening ear and offer a helping hand.

Irrespective of your work, learn to balance your professional and personal life. Create time to spend with your loved ones; that would make life easier and even help you produce quality content.

Let’s know if you’ve ever experienced burnout and what you did to overcome it.

The act of writing is almost incomplete without a good infusion of commas, as commas play an integral part in the writing process. But as commonplace as commas might be to every English language user, there is a clear variation in types when it comes to their usage. Based on this variation, we will be looking at the major types of commas and their applications in sentences.

Before we prod further, let us have a clearer understanding of the general functions of commas in our writing exercises.

WHAT IS A COMMA? A comma is a punctuation mark used to mark divisions or breaks in sentences.

Commas serve as an infusion of air in a sentence; thus, whenever a reader sees a comma, it occurs to the reader that he or she needs to halt and take a breath before proceeding. To this end, we can say that commas make reading less cumbersome and aid the sequential flow of a sentence.

However, the role of commas in writing is beyond the division of letters alone. Imagine reading outrageous figures without a breaker, or a long sentence without a break. When writing large numbers, we break them into three digits to make it easier to read.

Having established the fundamental functions of commas, let’s now go into the meat of this article, which is the difference between an oxford comma and a regular comma.

WHAT IS OXFORD COMMA? An Oxford comma is a comma that comes before the last conjunction in a sentence. It is also known as a series or serial comma. But most times, it is called the Oxford comma because it has been used by Oxford university press – the publishing arm of the renowned British University as far back as 1905. Interestingly, the oxford comma is sometimes referred to as the Harvard comma because it is commonly used by Harvard University Press as well.

It is believed in some quarters to be used because of its stylish feature. However, some writers argue that the Oxford comma is not just used for its stylistic feature but that it also enhances clarity in writing. Therefore, the essential meaning of a sentence can be altered if the Oxford comma is not inputted.

Oxford comma is important for eliminating potential ambiguity, which can tamper with the elegance and clarity of writing. For example:

I sent flowers to my daughters, Chidimma and Folakemi.

The presence of the Oxford comma in the above sentence makes it easier for the reader to understand that I sent flowers to my daughters and two other persons named Chidimma and Folakemi.

 It is for this reason that some writers opine that the Oxford commas make writing more intentional and precise.

Oxford comma also aids clarity when a list consists of complex clauses or terms. For example:

Buy bread and beans cake, mango juice and smoothie, and my mint sweets.

One can notice that without the oxford commas in the sentence, it will be difficult for the reader to understand the above sentence because there are other conjunctions grouping the pairs of things that belong together as single items on the list.

THE REGULAR COMMA: a regular comma is a punctuation mark that indicates the divisions in a particular sentence.

This comma is used to separate clauses, phrases, or words that require a little pause. The regular comma offers more grammatical function and orders the sequential flow of the various components in a sentence. In using a regular comma to separate clauses, the writer must first establish if the clause is dependent or independent.

 For example: After sweeping the room, I washed my clothes.

Instead of: I washed my clothes after I swept the room.

If it is a relative clause, a regular comma suffices if it is non-restrictive. For example:

 I cut down all the almond trees, which were over 8 feet tall.

Instead of: Only the almond trees which were over 8 feet tall were cut down.

More so, a regular comma is used to separate two parts of a sentence. Especially when the second part of the sentence is an independent clause, i.e., a clause that can stand on its own. For example:

Olumide drove to work, but he was unable to drive home.

Note that when the second independent clause is too short, the comma can be omitted. For example:

Stand up and walk out.

A regular comma between clauses also alters the connotation of a sentence. For example:

 We drove around town on a cool day that was refreshing.

 We drove around town, on a cool day,  that was refreshing.

Regular commas are also used to insert parenthetical words and phrases in a sentence.

Suffice to say when it comes to the key indicators of the differences in the two types of commas, the oxford comma is oftentimes seen as a matter of the writer’s preference in style. However, there is no denial of the fact that the two types of commas play significant roles in enhancing the clarity of our writing and making reading our work less choking.

If you found this helpful, check out our other blog post on the comma. (click here)