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Asking “Why?”
Always keep your ideal reader close by in your mind asking “Why?” Our subconscious is perfectly designed for this process. It already
September 16, 2022
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Writing Techniques
Most popular posts
Learn how to write a montage in a screenplay to condense time and show character growth. Master the format and...
Learn how to plan a novel by balancing creative intuition with a structured 90-day schedule, from initial inquiry to finishing...
Master the rule of three to create satisfying patterns, memorable character trios, and a rhythmic story structure that resonates with...
Explore the transformative power of writing as a tool for healing trauma, finding self-acceptance, and discovering meaning beyond the search...
Master the path to publication. Learn how to polish your manuscript, query literary agents, handle rejection, and weigh the pros...
Unlock your protagonist's depth using foil characters. Learn how to use contrast and dilemmas to highlight key traits and drive...
Coming of age is never easy. You might have been the popular kid in school, armed with academic excellence, physical...
The first time you experienced the magic of storytelling, odds are it was a personal story you heard in first...
Occasionally, tucked somewhere between an introduction, epigraph, and dedication, a book might have a prologue. This is the story before...
Picking a perspective is like choosing your weapon before a gladiator match; it limits and defines your style of approach....
Third person omniscient POV offers writers the rare power to see into every mind and move freely across the landscape...
Pathos is a key aspect of any rhetorician’s approach to their oratory. If you are writing a speech in your...
Blog
On Writing Dialogue
“If you have a good ear for dialogue, you just can’t help thinking about the way people talk. You’re drawn to it.
June 2, 2022
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Blog
Developing Your Writing Technique
Technique develops over time. By reading and writing, we absorb a sense of story structure, cadence, and rhythm. We learn how
May 20, 2022
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Blog
Humor in Writing
There is nothing less funny than writing about humor. I was a standup comic for years. Every once in a while after
November 19, 2021
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Blog
Make it Dramatic
“Drama is life with the dull bits cut out.” – Alfred Hitchcock Story moves as the result of complications that arise, not
July 16, 2021
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Blog
3 Secrets for Getting Started on Writing Your First Novel
Every writer struggles with getting the story from imagination to the page. The first-time novelist confronts the special challenge of having never
June 10, 2021
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Blog
Finding Your Writing Voice
I work with many first-time novelists, screenwriters, and memoirists, and the question of voice always comes up. “Do you think I have
April 8, 2021
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Blog
Writing Prose
“Prose is architecture, not interior design.” – Ernest Hemingway Our words are in service to our story. When we get too flashy with
September 11, 2020
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Blog
Overcoming Self-Doubt
I used to be amazed at the madness of my mind. One day, I think my writing is brilliant, and the next
March 17, 2020
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Blog
The Courage to be Specific in Writing
Humans are full of paradoxes. We only love to the extent that we hate. We are constantly changing our minds, constantly renegotiating
February 12, 2020
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Blog
Weights & Measures
Proximity Do our characters have to be two thousand miles apart, or three miles apart? If we are trying to convey a
March 12, 2019
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Blog
Simplicity
Forward, he cried From the rear And the front ranks died. Pink Floyd (Us and Them) We can tell a whole
February 8, 2019
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Blog
Staying Connected to the Source
“To raise new questions, new possibilities, to regard old problems from a new angle, requires creative imagination.” – Albert Einstein The rewrite
July 30, 2018
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Blog
Humor in Tragedy
(Image from Life is Beautiful, 1997) If you’re going to write a tragedy, infuse your story with humor. Humor pulls us towards the
July 23, 2018
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Blog
Building Sentences
“You become a good writer just as you become a good joiner: by planing down your sentences.”– Anatole France There are no
July 6, 2018
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Recent posts
Always keep your ideal reader close by in your mind asking “Why?” Our subconscious is perfectly designed for this process....
“If you have a good ear for dialogue, you just can’t help thinking about the way people talk. You’re drawn...
Technique develops over time. By reading and writing, we absorb a sense of story structure, cadence, and rhythm. We...
There is nothing less funny than writing about humor. I was a standup comic for years. Every once in a...
“Drama is life with the dull bits cut out.” – Alfred Hitchcock Story moves as the result of complications that...
Every writer struggles with getting the story from imagination to the page. The first-time novelist confronts the special challenge of...
I work with many first-time novelists, screenwriters, and memoirists, and the question of voice always comes up. “Do you think...
“Prose is architecture, not interior design.” – Ernest Hemingway Our words are in service to our story. When we get...
I used to be amazed at the madness of my mind. One day, I think my writing is brilliant, and...
Humans are full of paradoxes. We only love to the extent that we hate. We are constantly changing our minds,...
Proximity Do our characters have to be two thousand miles apart, or three miles apart? If we are trying to...
Forward, he cried From the rear And the front ranks died. Pink Floyd (Us and Them) We can tell...
“To raise new questions, new possibilities, to regard old problems from a new angle, requires creative imagination.” – Albert Einstein...
(Image from Life is Beautiful, 1997) If you’re going to write a tragedy, infuse your story with humor. Humor pulls...
“You become a good writer just as you become a good joiner: by planing down your sentences.”– Anatole France There...
