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Anessa Books

I am a book coach and formatter for indie-authors. I teach others how to format, edit, and guide new authors through the maze that is self-publishing.

12/04/2026

Craft: Adding Jargon to Your Novel

A brief word about this blog first: The absolutely hardest thing about writing a weekly blog post is coming up with topics to write about. Since I’ve been publishing this blog for fifteen years now (!!!), I feel as if I’ve covered everything and sometimes many times over. Still, every week I sit and stare at a blank page in Microsoft Word and try to think of what to write!...

A brief word about this blog first: The absolutely hardest thing about writing a weekly blog post is coming up with topics to write about. Since I’ve been publishing this blog for fifteen years now (!!!), I feel as if I’ve covered everything and sometimes many times over. Still, every week I sit...

06/04/2026

Ten Ways to Give Your Character Their Voice

Writing distinct character voices might be one of the most difficult parts of writing fiction. It is one thing to write great, believable dialogue that moves your story forward, but then to imbue those words with the individual voice of the character who speaks takes your writing to the next level. There are a lot of ways you can distinguish one character’s voice from another....

Writing distinct character voices might be one of the most difficult parts of writing fiction. It is one thing to write great, believable dialogue that moves your story forward, but then to imbue those words with the individual voice of the character who speaks takes your writing to the next level.....

29/03/2026

Five Reasons You Need a Human Editor

AI is everywhere and you might be using it without even knowing you’re doing so. How? By using the common editing apps Grammarly and ProWriting Aid. They are both now powered by AI. So, what’s the best way to avoid using any AI in the writing of your novel? Use a human editor. Here are five reasons why: Voice: an author’s voice sometimes doesn’t follow the rules of grammar....

AI is everywhere and you might be using it without even knowing you’re doing so. How? By using the common editing apps Grammarly and ProWriting Aid. They are both now powered by AI. So, what’s the best way to avoid using any AI in the writing of your novel? Use a human editor. Here are […]

15/03/2026

Non-Linear Storytelling–Should You Attempt It?

A client of mind recently sent me a novella. It started out with “four years ago.” Okay. I can deal with a little backstory to begin with. The next chapter was “one year ago.” Cool, we’re coming up on present day. A little slowly, but we’re good. Next chapter “present day.” Okay! Here we go with the real story. It took two chapters of a novella, but that’s okay....

A client of mind recently sent me a novella. It started out with “four years ago.” Okay. I can deal with a little backstory to begin with. The next chapter was “one year ago.” Cool, we’re coming up on present day. A little slowly, but we’re good. Next chapter “present day.” Okay! Her...

08/03/2026

Obsidian for Authors

Last week I talked about some of the tools in my writer’s toolbox. This week, I want to get into some detail about how I use Obsidian. If you don’t know, Obsidian is an app that resides on your computer where you can create pages and take notes on anything. Not only is the app on your computer, but so are all the files you keep there....

Last week I talked about some of the tools in my writer’s toolbox. This week, I want to get into some detail about how I use Obsidian. If you don’t know, Obsidian is an app that resides on your computer where you can create pages and take notes on anything. Not only is the app […]

01/03/2026

Using all the tools in my writer’s toolbox

I have a lot of tools in my writer’s toolbox and I use each and every one despite the fact that many overlap in their abilities. Is that nuts? Weird? Inefficient? Maybe, but it works for me. Before I even begin to write a book, I create characters and plot the book on paper with worksheets I created (you can get them…...

I have a lot of tools in my writer’s toolbox and I use each and every one despite the fact that many overlap in their abilities. Is that nuts? Weird? Inefficient? Maybe, but it works for me. Before I even begin to write a book, I create characters and plot the book on paper with […]

22/02/2026

Writing When You’re Too Busy to Write

I’ve got a coaching client who hasn’t sent me anything to read in advance of our weekly coaching sessions for a month. We’ve been working together for years and he’s nearly always sent me at least a chapter to read. This past month? Nothing. He’s way too busy at work. When we get on our call, he tells me he’s thrilled to have gotten three hours of sleep the night before because he was working....

I’ve got a coaching client who hasn’t sent me anything to read in advance of our weekly coaching sessions for a month. We’ve been working together for years and he’s nearly always sent me at least a chapter to read. This past month? Nothing. He’s way too busy at work. When we get on our [....

15/02/2026

Update: Atticus Reviewed

Three years ago I reviewed the--then--new writing/formatting software Atticus. It was created by Dave Chesson of Kindlepreneur in 2021 (I reviewed it in 2022). At that time it was a pretty new concept: software that can be accessed anywhere, because it lives online, which can be used to both write and format your novel. Incredibly, it's still just about the only kid on that block (the only other one I could find is Reedsy)....

Three years ago I reviewed the–then–new writing/formatting software Atticus. It was created by Dave Chesson of Kindlepreneur in 2021 (I reviewed it in 2022). At that time it was a pretty new concept: software that can be accessed anywhere, because it lives online, which can be used to both write...

08/02/2026

Ten Tips to Write Dialogue Right

I’ve been reading a sad amount of iffy dialogue recently from overuse of names to unnatural sounding speech to wrong punctuation. So, I decided now would be a great time to do a quick reminder of how to do dialogue right. And we all love “listacles” so here is one for you: 1. Give each character their own voice. Sometimes that’s easier said than done....

I’ve been reading a sad amount of iffy dialogue recently from overuse of names to unnatural sounding speech to wrong punctuation. So, I decided now would be a great time to do a quick reminder of how to do dialogue right. And we all love “listacles” so here is one for you: 1. Give each […]

01/02/2026

How Many Plots Make a Story?

How many times have you sat down at your desk at work and did one thing without interruption until it was finished? My bet is that the answer is almost never. Things happen: an email comes in that must be responded to immediately, your boss demands that you finish another task before you complete the one you’re working on, as your working you realize that you need to do this other thing first in order to do what you’re doing....

How many times have you sat down at your desk at work and did one thing without interruption until it was finished? My bet is that the answer is almost never. Things happen: an email comes in that must be responded to immediately, your boss demands that you finish another task before you complete th...

25/01/2026

The Goldilocks Novel Length

How long should your book be? Do you worry about this? I know authors have enough to think about when they're writing a novel—character arcs, plot arcs, conflict, and that timeline—but should they also worry about the length of the book? Some people say no. A book should be as long as it takes to tell the story. Stephen King famously said that he just keeps writing until the story is done....

How long should your book be? Do you worry about this? I know authors have enough to think about when they’re writing a novel—character arcs, plot arcs, conflict, and that timeline—but should they also worry about the length of the book? Some people say no. A book should be as long as it takes...

18/01/2026

My new to-do app to get me writing

Obsidian just wasn't doing it for me in keeping track of my tasks. I love Obsidian! I use it to track my novel (a page for every scene, a table of all the scenes, and, of course, a page for each character in the book). But for daily tasks and keeping track of my calendar, despite trying many different plug-ins, it just wasn't working for me....

Obsidian just wasn’t doing it for me in keeping track of my tasks. I love Obsidian! I use it to track my novel (a page for every scene, a table of all the scenes, and, of course, a page for each character in the book). But for daily tasks and keeping track of my calendar, […]

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