Today’s offering is a guest post from Louise Marley, an award-winning author of historical fiction as well as science fiction and...

Theme is a loaded word. In fiction, it aroused the suspicion that we’re preaching about something. Can’t we just give the story a...

Courage, faith, balance. Essentials for the writing life This year on my blog I’ve had fun sharing my views, exploring the writing...

Please drop by for my new interview, podcast now at Dialogue: Between the Lines! I had fun chatting with show host Susan Wingate today....

I’ve been thinking about pacing, and what a judgment call this aspect of fiction requires. Repetitive and unnecessary words, paragraphs,...

Theme is a loaded word. It conjures up middle school English classes where you have to cough up what the writer was trying to say in...

The writer’s calling is a noble one. It’s a very fine thing that we do in the world–creating stories and putting them out there. But it’s...

Happy New Year, friends! I had fun digging in this year to discover what I believe about writing and what I believe can be taught and...

In this market-driven world how does a writer manage to be authentic? How am I supposed to write my own stories, but find that...

In writing the novel, there is a difference between characterization and character. Characterization is a list of attributes that...

When we start out on the road to becoming a novelist, it’s fair to ask, “What are my chances?” And we’d better ask that question, because...

We are a distracted society. Amid phones in our hip pockets, movie must-sees, and political blather, it’s hard to concentrate on any one...

Dialogue is where an author most clearly shows her depth and mastery of craft. Learn to do this piece well, and you’ll be far more likely...

Okay, fellow writers, we’ve been pushed around long enough. We’re told to be accurate, clear and crisp. Tell the story. Don’t confuse the...

I was going to give this one a snappy title, but then I thought, no, let’s keep it simple. We need to revise our work. Oh boy, do we...

Why do we read fiction? I think this is an excellent question because the way we answer it for ourselves can inform how we create...

Call it a light bulb moment. The moment when I put together two subsets of character and plot, to realize why most novels fail. First...

You know that nagging sense: You should have started serious writing sooner. You should be published by now, famous by now. Earning real...

Today’s post is from Louise Marley, an extraordinary writer of over a dozen novels, and one of the best writing teachers around. Her...

If you read very many writing blogs and go to workshops, you must be getting the impression that novels need a lot of stuff and some of...