I’m going to pick up the thread of my last blog post where I talked about two things that drive us to write: First, the desire to commu...

With NaNoWriMo around the corner I thought I'd go over two rules of thumb for character creation that have served me well. Two R...

I read one of my old short stories yesterday. It’s one of my favorites but it’s far from my best. At the time I wrote it I knew a little...

Yesterday we saw that character traits don’t come singly but in pairs. If a character is, say, one angry SOB then, all things being e...

This post is part of a longer discussion on tags and traits and how we can use them to craft unique and interesting characters. Here ...

Yesterday I began a discussion of Tags and Traits and talked about how they can help bring a character to life. Today I’d like to ex...

I know I said I would write about how to create a great story opening by introducing a minor mystery. I’m still going to write about ...

As you’ve likely heard again and again, to be commercially competitive in today’s market your story’s opening has to shine. Altho...