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Crystal Kamm

Crystal Kamm is a professional writer and former educator who combines her passion for storytelling with her love of teaching others.

Nov 22

Maintain Focus With Aesthetic Isolation

When you’re deep in a project, it can be really distracting to enjoy the entertainment that we normally enjoy. For this reason, I recomme...

Aesthetic Isolation - Novlr

Aug 23

Why “Just Write” is The Best Writing Advice Ever

Writing a novel is tricky. There, I said it. I’ve read so many books about the writing process, not because I truly believe that pr...

Why Just Write is the best writing advice - Novlr

Aug 12

Write to the Right Soundtrack

Last year, we did a poll on our Instagram to see whether our writers prefer to write in silence or with music. We wanted to know if there...

Write to the right soundtrack - Novlr

Aug 5

Understanding Book Genres: An Essential Tool for Writers

Book genres are simple classifications, allowing readers to know what kind of book they are reading. They also allow publishers to know w...

Understanding book genres - Novlr

May 20

What Does it Mean to Start Your Story Late?

“Start late, leave early” is a screenwriting principle that has made its way into the wider writing world. Essentially, what ...

What does it mean to start your story late?

Apr 26

Finding Writing Inspiration in Real Life

Creative block is a normal part of the writing process and it happens to all writers at some point. Some writers worry about feeling bloc...

Finding writing inspiration in real life - Novlr

Mar 11

What to Do When Motivation Is Lacking

When you’re writing something as huge as a novel, it can be difficult to remain motivated, and that is a fact. Most other projects are ea...

when motivation is lacking header - Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash

Oct 30

How To Plan a Novel (By Not Planning It)

Writers everywhere approach their novels differently. Some of you meticulously plan everything. Others wing it by sliding into their comp...

How to plan your novel - Photo by Photo by Ivan Samkov for Pexels

Jul 21

Why I Love My Morning Pages

In the book The Artist’s Way, by Julia Cameron, one of the exercises recommended for stimulating creativity is writing morning pages. Thi...

Novlr advice writing morning pages
Reading Your Novel for the Very First Time

Everyone writes differently, that much we know. Some people write a whole novel from start to finish and then read it, make a few minor c...

Reading your novel for the first time - Novlr
Getting the Science Right in Your Fiction

Writers have tons of creative ideas, but most of us aren’t scientists. So, how do we make sure that we get the science right in our ficti...

Getting the science right in your fiction - Photo by Nathan Duck on Unsplash

Apr 10

Genre Talk: Exploring the World of Steampunk

What is Steampunk? Steampunk is a subgenre of science fiction that combines historical elements with anachronistic technological features...

Writing Steampunk - Photo by cmophoto.net on Unsplash

Apr 3

Four Strategies For Writing Convincing Dialogue

When it comes to writing convincing dialogue for a story, it’s important to make it believable. Believable doesn’t mean “lifelike,” thoug...

Two women talking - Photo by Oleksandr Pidvalnyi for Pexels

Mar 17

Writing About Love in a Way That Rings True

Writing about love can be tricky. Love is universal. It’s something almost all of us can identify with, in one way or another, and ...

Writing about love - Photo by Michael Fenton on Unsplash

Jan 30

Revising your Novel: Playing in the Sandbox

Before I wrote my novel, I scoured the internet, searching for facts about how to write one. I got all the books, I took all the seminars...

Sandbox - Photo by Hello I'm Nik on Unsplash

Nov 21

If NaNoWriMo Was a Fitness Challenge

Writing a novel is arguably one of the most gruelling of endurance sports. We write and write and write, only to scrap what we wrote and ...

NaNoWriMo as a fitness challenge - Photo by Miriam Alonso

Nov 14

Using Conflict to Move Your Story Forward

NaNoWriMo is in full swing, and for some of us, that means we’ve started a whole new project! Even though I am writing most of the ...

Writing conflict - Photo by Klaus Nielsen

Oct 3

Turn Off the TV, Write a Novel

When writing a novel, there’s more to success than getting the work done. Being successful really comes down to a few things, namel...

Turn the TV off and write a novel - Photo by Huỳnh Đạt for Pexels

Oct 22

Writer’s Routines: Writing in the Afternoon

Writing in the afternoon is often overlooked. In movies and books, writers are seen typing away late into the night or getting up early i...

Aug 3

Writer’s Routines: Writing in the Small Hours

Are you a writer who works best after everyone else has gone to bed? Does writing in the small hours yield your best ideas? If your favor...

sheer curtained window looking out over water at dawn

Jun 15

Writer’s Routines: Writing at Night

Are you a nighttime writer? Does writing at night yield your best ideas? If your best ideas come to you just before bed you’re keep...

Feb 23

Novlr’s Favorite Books

Novlr is a platform developed by writers, for writers. You’d better believe that we’re all passionate about what we do: helping great boo...

Novlr's favorite books - Photo by Florencia Viadana on Unsplash

Feb 9

Black History Month: Books by Black Authors

As we enter Black History Month, let’s take some time to appreciate some of the incredible literary contributions made by Black aut...

Jan 28

Is there a process for writing a novel?

‘Is there a process for writing a novel?’ is a question that writers, especially new writers, ask across the board. Is there ...