Part of worldbuilding – whether you are writing an epic Sci-Fi story or a quiet romance – comes down to designing people. Everyone is shaped by their surroundings, be they a small town in Montana or the confines of a space station. Clothing, customs, economic structures – all of these were designed by people for […]
I hope everyone survived NaNoWriMo. How’d you do? Even if you didn’t hit 50K, I hope you enjoyed the experience, especially if it was your first time. And you now have more words than you started the month with. The thing I love about NaNo is the need to meet a deadline, which forces you […]
Character agency refers to a character’s ability to make decisions that affect the outcome of a story. But it also refers to a character’s freedom to be themselves in the story world. They’re going to want to walk their own path, wherever that leads them. It’s possible for you as an author to violate a […]
If you’re writing a book with multiple viewpoints, sometimes it can be confusing to figure out who’s story this is. You may have a character that’s fun to write, or one that feels like they should be the protagonist based on genre conventions. But are they really the best choice to serve your story? You […]
Are you ready for a new writing adventure and some new writing challenges? So excited about the new series of classes I’m doing for UTA Continuing Education this fall. There was such an overwhelming positive response to the Novel 1-2-3 classes that they’ve decided to test out Novel 4-5-6. If you have some writing experience, […]
I know they said not to take selfies with bears . . . One of the hardest things about humor writing is giving your reader permission to laugh. After all, you’re putting your protagonist in embarrassing, and sometimes physically painful, situations. The last think your audience is going to want is to feel mean for […]
This whole month, I want to talk about the relationship between writing and reading. I’ve talked to so many writers who say they don’t read inside their own genre because they’re afraid of copying someone else’s idea. (More on this later – I’m planning an entire post on genre as a conversation.) Or they don’t […]
I recently had a writer ask me which one of his many ideas he should follow up on. There is no easy answer to that question, because it all depends on the writer’s motivation. Is he wanting to know which one is the most marketable? Well, I can’t exactly predict the market in two to […]
“Kill your darlings, kill your darlings, even when it breaks your egocentric little scribbler’s heart, kill your darlings.” – Stephen King (not the first person to say it, but perhaps the most ominous) It’s a common piece of advice to give to beginning writers, and it’s been attributed to everyone from Faulkner to Wilde. Slate.com […]
I’m a big believer in the promises-made-to-your-reader philosophy of writing. It’s the idea that readers file away everything you’ve laid out in the first few chapters of your story – and they expect you to follow up on it. To see how this extends through your entire book, see the post back in January where […]
