This post continues my mini-series about how to introduce a character. I’ve already written about Exaggeration, Unusual Position and introdu...

What is Free Indirect Discourse and why should you care? Do you have a favorite author, one who is able to grab you on the first page, immer...

Every day in November I’m going to lay out the structural bones of a crucial story scene.  I'll then break this scene down for three ...

We talk, tongue-in-cheek, about the cult of Apple. Of course Apple isn’t a cult, though it does have certain cultish aspects. Take my...

Let’s talk about blind spots. We’re often told that protagonists need to be likable but it’s just as important that they have flaws...

"Good writers borrow from other writers. Great writers steal from them outright," Aaron Sorkin. What do Aaron Sorkin , steali...

Who is the most important character in your story? Your protagonist, right? Wrong! It's the antagonist. Or at least that's what J...

The Key To Good Writing Is Re-Writing We're nearing the end of November and beginning to think abut life after NaNoWriMo. (When we...

We're pulling into the homestretch of NaNoWriMo! Exhaustion is setting in. I feel like a marathoner nearing the end. I've seen ...

Robert J. Sawyer & Dirty Harry For my second post today I want to share my notes from a workshop I took with consummate science fi...