N.L. LaFoille

We love fiction; it transports us to exciting worlds with exciting people, whether we’re taking an epic journey across another universe or navigating a family crisis. I’m a voracious fiction reader. I write fiction, I adore fanfiction; any kind of fiction, count me in. But if I’m being honest, the most beneficial reading I do is non-fiction. In my naïve egotistical years, I used to make a lemon face when talking about non-fiction; it always brought to mind a washed-out navy blue cover with Papyrus font and a Shutterstock image that would be dry as a day-old cracker to slog through. What do I want to read non-fiction for? I live in the real world every day and it sucks; take me to Middle Earth. I didn’t understand then. Non-fiction makes me a better writer. Non-fiction is research, it’s expanding your boundaries and horizons. I recently read a book on bodybuilding. I have no particular interest in bodybuilding; I’m 120 pounds with rocks in my pockets, but in the future if...

Do you ever look back on things you wrote a year ago and cringe?  Um, I do.  It's a good thing, really! It means you're refining your voice.  "Voice" is a difficult term to describe, as it encompasses a lot of 'feeling'.  It's the individual writing style of that author , a combination of idiotypical usage of  syntax ,  diction ,  punctuation ,  character development , flow and  dialogue . Just as a trumpet has a different voice than a tuba or a violin has a different voice than a cello, one author's style will sound different from another's (ideally). An author's voice may be described as quirky, lyrical, light or dark.  An author may have many voices, depending on the POV they use to tell their story, and the feeling of the story itself. You wouldn't want to use a light voice to tell a dark story, or vice versa. You wouldn't want to use an overly professorial voice when telling a story from the POV of a teenager, either. So,...