Amid all that we’re trying to do as novelists, sometimes we lose sight of one thing that at first glance seems obvious: The crucial...

One of the best questions you can ask of your story-in-development is: Why is this character in this story? That is, why this character...

One of the goals of fiction is to evoke a feeling, atmosphere and understanding–in the reader. As a writer, you have things you want to...

Ever think how odd it is that writers want to create their own stories–but then they want others to tell them how to change it? It seems...

Lately I’ve been thinking: Great stories don’t so much come from expertise, training and talent as they come from what you believe. You...

Here is a blog I recently did as a guest post, but updated. It is also the subject of a chat I did with Savvy Authors last month. Read on...

Flashbacks in fiction are one of those gizmos in your utility drawer that can give you grief. It’s like Gorilla Glue or razor blades....

I’m back on it again, the subject of heart. I seem to blog a lot about finding the emotional core of story. Maybe because so many stories...

No, the topic isn’t: the last thing we do before we die. But it’s akin to it. By bad last acts, I mean Act 3 of a lot of novels. For the...

In the midst of all the things we’re supposed to do as writers, sometimes we blow past the most basic. We work and rework our plot,...

I hope you’re following the new BBC Sherlock Holmes series. There is so much to learn from this marvelous mash-up of the Arthur Conan...

I’ve been thinking about characterization today, and how often our protagonist just does not engage emotionally–no matter how hard we...

Okay, I’ve heard enough. You’re discouraged. Is it all worth it? Is the writing life what it’s chalked up to be? Have you missed the...

This is the kind of post that every author gets around to writing sooner or later. I collect these when I can find them, because they’re...

Is there a romance in your work in progress? No? Perhaps your story is better off without one, but let’s pause for a moment and consider:...

Sooner or later in your writing life you are going to run up against a novel that just won’t spark to life. Technically the story appears...

This morning’s meditation is on justifying our fictional villains. Do we need to explain them? Shall we establish empathy or at least...

We hear a lot about making clear what the main character of a story wants. Desire leads to motive and thence to action. It’s a powerful...

Sooner or later you’re going to find yourself face to face with an agent. It’s an important meeting, but an odd one. You have only a...

Some people get all the breaks. Like rich people and household-name authors. Sometimes it seems that you have to have money to make money...