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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
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Suspense is all about what might happen. It’s not the moment of danger itself that evokes suspense, but the growing...
The Seeker archetype is a character beset by a divine discontent, an inner yearning for something just beyond their reach....
Is first-person omniscient narration even possible? Most writers are taught point of view as a set of hard and fast...
You’ve finished your manuscript and you want to get a book deal with a traditional publisher. Where do you start? ...
“Can you send me your writing portfolio?” For many writers, that’s the moment everything stops. You might feel like a...
Two sentences with the exact same words rearranged can mean entirely different things. That shift is syntax at work. “Syntax”...
Coming of age is never easy. You might have been the popular kid in school, armed with academic excellence, physical...
Occasionally, tucked somewhere between an introduction, epigraph, and dedication, a book might have a prologue. This is the story before...
Magical realism invites the impossible into the ordinary. This genre asks us to accept the fantastical without question. The supernatural...
A powerful way to shift the perspective of your audience is to employ dramatic irony. This literary device lets the...
The first time you experienced the magic of storytelling, odds are it was a personal story you heard in first...
Motifs are one of the best literary devices you can have in your writer’s toolbox. Essentially, a motif is a...
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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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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...