Nicole Bianchi

Writing, Copywriting, & Marketing Strategies

  • Home
  • About
  • Stories & Essays
  • Blog
  • Courses
  • Contact

How to Prepare for NaNoWriMo: 7 Helpful Resources

Published October 22, 2021 | Last Updated October 22, 2021 By Nicole Bianchi 4 Comments

National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) is nearly here. If you’ve never heard of NaNoWriMo before, it’s a 30-day challenge to write 50,000 words of a novel during the month of November.

Now, that’s the official challenge, but I love adapting NaNoWriMo to my own writing goals. It’s a fantastic way to motivate yourself to make progress or get started on any writing project (fiction or nonfiction) that you’ve been procrastinating over.

I’ve put together this article rounding up lots of resources I’ve created over the years to help you crush your writing goals this upcoming month, whether you’re taking part in the challenge or not. Let’s dive in.

[Read more…]

Filed Under: creativity, featured, fiction, inspiration, motivation, productivity, writing

How to Quickly Write Fantastic Essays and Blog Posts: 8-Step Writing Process (Video)

Published October 17, 2021 | Last Updated October 17, 2021 By Nicole Bianchi 1 Comment

In this video, I share an 8-step process that will help you write a fantastic essay, article, or blog post fast, whether your deadline is in a few days or tomorrow morning. ✍️ 😅

I use this process for all of the nonfiction pieces I work on (blog posts, memoir essays, and more). If you have more time to work on your piece, you can devote more time to each step. I definitely recommend spending more time on your paper if you can. Often I’ll devote an entire day or more to each individual step if I’m not working on a tight deadline. Hope this video helps you!

I hope you enjoy the video! It would be awesome if you could give it a thumbs up and leave a comment on YouTube. This helps me know you are enjoying these videos. Do you have any more tips for writing a gripping inciting incident?

Also make sure to subscribe to my channel if you haven’t already!

I’ve just started making YouTube videos and really appreciate your support. I hope the video inspires you with your writing. Thanks for watching! 

**RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS VIDEO**:

  • 🎥 Writing in Your Head Strategy (video): https://youtu.be/rH1Tpwb4WS0
  • 📝 Thesis Statement Formulas: https://nicolebianchi.com/one-sentence-synopsis
  • 📝 Timed Writing (Pomodoro Technique): https://nicolebianchi.com/anthony-trollope-timed-writing-strategy
  • 📝 7-Step Editing Checklist: https://nicolebianchi.com/edit-writing
  • 📚 ProWritingAid (affiliate link): https://prowritingaid.com/?afid=4955
  • 📬 My email newsletter, The Inkwell: https://nicolebianchi.com/newsletter/

Filed Under: blogging, featured, productivity, writing

How to Write a Powerful Inciting Incident (Video)

Published September 12, 2021 | Last Updated September 12, 2021 By Nicole Bianchi 2 Comments

The inciting incident or “call to adventure” is the event that launches the main action of a story, whether you’re writing fiction or nonfiction.

When your inciting incident is powerful and upends the life of your protagonist, you have one of the key ingredients for a gripping and unforgettable story that your readers won’t be able to put down.

In this video, I share three rules for crafting powerful inciting incidents and also look at mistakes to avoid when writing this critical part of your story.

I hope you enjoy the video! It would be awesome if you could give it a thumbs up and leave a comment on YouTube. This helps me know you are enjoying these videos. Do you have any more tips for writing a gripping inciting incident?

Also make sure to subscribe to my channel if you haven’t already!

I’ve just started making YouTube videos and really appreciate your support. I hope the video inspires you with your writing. Thanks for watching! 

RECOMMENDED RESOURCES:

  • 📚 Complete Playlist of Story Structure Videos: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL2…
  • 📚 The Hero’s Journey (video): https://youtu.be/yYSTz1H6buc
  • 📚 The Ordinary World (video): https://youtu.be/VM9l1McnPbo
  • 📚 “Story” by Robert McKee: https://amzn.to/2OayIKC
  • 📚 My email newsletter, The Inkwell: https://nicolebianchi.com/newsletter/

Some of the above links might be affiliate links. Thank you for helping to support the blog!

Filed Under: creativity, editing, featured, fiction, video, writing

How to Use Close Reading to Improve Your Writing (Video)

Published August 15, 2021 | Last Updated August 20, 2021 By Nicole Bianchi Leave a Comment

I’m excited to share a new video with you today! 

Many famous writers have stressed the importance of reading to become a better writer. Stephen King once observed, “If you don’t have the time to read, you don’t have the time (or the tools) to write. Simple as that. Reading is the creative center of a writer’s life.”

But how can you get the most out of the books you read?

In this video, I look at a strategy called “close reading”. Close reading is a form of literary analysis that helps you get more out of the books you read. With close reading, you dive into a passage of a well-written novel or a poem and identify the techniques and themes that make the writing so powerful.

This active reading strategy will help you take your own writing to the next level as you discover powerful writing techniques that you can use to make your own writing more memorable and meaningful to your readers.

1. Read the Entire Piece

The first step is to make sure that you read the entire book or poem that you’re going to be close reading. 

If you don’t know the entire plot of the book, it’s going to be harder to identify certain techniques that the author is using. For example, if there’s a character that dies later on in the story, and the author is using foreshadowing at the beginning of the book to hint at that death, you wouldn’t pick up that technique because you don’t know that character is going to die. 

Usually when I do a close reading, it’s after I have already read the entire book, depending on how deep of a close reading I’m doing. 

2. Understand the Context

The second step is to understand the context of the piece of literature that you’re examining. Just as you want to understand the entire plot of the piece, it’s also really important to understand the context of the author. Who were they? Why were they writing this piece? Did they ever discuss their philosophy or inspiration? What was going on in history at the time the piece was written? How did that influence the author?

3. Summarize the Obvious

The third step is to summarize the paragraph or the passage that you’re going to be close reading. Poems are often short so you might close read an entire poem. But usually if you’re close reading a book, you would just pick out a passage that really strikes you and that you want to examine on a deeper level. At this stage, look for the most obvious things and jot them down. Maybe a character states that they are jealous of someone. Maybe the author is describing a character’s loneliness. This gives you clues for the themes of the piece which leads to step number four.

4. Pinpoint the Central Ideas and Themes

The fourth step is to identify the central ideas and themes in the passage. I’ve found this is very helpful when I am writing my own fiction, and I want to see how an author wove a certain theme into a piece. After you identify the obvious themes, you can examine how the author conveys them in the passage. How does he or she convey a sense of isolation or anger or fear? This leads into steps number five and six which examine the point of view and language and syntax of the piece.

5. Identify the Point of View

The fifth step is to analyze the point of view of the passage. Who is the narrator? Is it written in first person, second person, third person? Is it an omniscient narrator? Some books have an unreliable narrator, and that’s really interesting to examine. You can consider, “Is the author here putting forth their own opinion or is it an opinion of the characters?” 

6. Dive Deep into the Language and Syntax

The sixth step is to look at the language and syntax. If you’re examining a poem, you would look at the rhyme scheme and the rhythm and how that affects the feel of the piece. You can also do that when you’re looking at a book. Does the author use long sentences or short sentences? Why? How do they vary their tempo? What synonyms and metaphors do they use? How does that contribute to the theme of the piece and the big ideas of the piece? Is there a secondary theme that wasn’t obvious at first but now becomes more apparent?

This last step is my favorite because it allows you to discover techniques that you can use to make your own writing more powerful.

When I am reading a book, I might come across a passage that strikes me. This has probably happened to you too where you say, “Wow, this is a beautifully written passage!” Now you can use close reading to break down what makes that passage so powerful.

Is the author varying their sentences? What similes do they use? What metaphors? Or maybe other types of figurative language? Look for techniques that you can use for your own writing.

Want to see close reading in action? 

Check out the YouTube video where I examine the first verse from the first stanza of Edgar Allan Poe’s The Raven (and discover a writing technique that will take your writing to the next level).

I hope you enjoy the video! It would be awesome if you could give it a thumbs up and leave a comment. How will you use close reading?

Also make sure to subscribe to my channel if you haven’t already. I really appreciate your support and hope the video inspires you with your writing. Thanks for watching! 

**RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS VIDEO**:

📚 Christopher Lee (The Raven): https://youtu.be/BefliMlEzZ8

📚 How to Vividly Describe Emotions (Video): https://youtu.be/-UG8StLBiek

📚 My email newsletter, The Inkwell: https://nicolebianchi.com/newsletter/

📚 Bonus Resource: Article from Harvard College on Close Reading: https://writingcenter.fas.harvard.edu/pages/how-do-close-reading

Filed Under: creativity, featured, inspiration, video, writing

5 Writing Exercises for Creating Compelling Characters

Published July 24, 2021 | Last Updated July 24, 2021 By Nicole Bianchi 2 Comments


When you think of unforgettable characters from books you’ve read, who comes to mind?

For me, I might think of Bilbo Baggins heading off on an adventure in Middle Earth or Ebenezer Scrooge being whisked away by the Christmas spirits or Jane Eyre trying to forge her own path in Victorian England.

What makes characters like these so unforgettable? What makes them feel as if they were real people rather than just creations of the author?

These characters come to life because they have complex personalities. They’re not stereotypes. Each one has dreams and desires, flaws and foibles. This makes them compelling and relatable to readers who come to those books even hundreds of years after they’ve been published.

Ernest Hemingway once observed, 

When writing a novel, a writer should create living people; people not characters. A character is a caricature.

In today’s blog post, I’m sharing five character development writing exercises that will help you create living people for your stories. These exercises will guide you to examine your characters on a deeper level so you write memorable characters and thought-provoking stories that delight your readers.

(Please note that links to the books are affiliate links which means I’ll earn a small commission if you buy through the link with no extra cost to you. Thank you!)

[Read more…]

Filed Under: creativity, featured, fiction, inspiration, writing

  • « Previous Page
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • 6
  • …
  • 23
  • Next Page »

Hi, I’m Nicole! I help creatives, business owners, and writers take their writing and copywriting to the next level and grow their online audience. I’m also a published writer of essays and short stories. As a Christian, I seek to follow in the tradition of artists like Johann Sebastian Bach, dedicating all my work Soli Deo gloria.
Find out more about me here.
•••
“My heart is stirred by a noble theme as I recite my verses for the king; my tongue is the pen of a skillful writer.”
– Psalm 45:1

___________________

AS SEEN ON:

Support the Blog!

Let’s Connect!

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Medium
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Amazon Associates Disclosure

Nicole Bianchi is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

Copyright © 2023 Nicole Bianchi Creative LLC · All Rights Reserved · Privacy Policy · Psalm 45:1