This post is part of a series on Lester Dent’s method for writing a short story . You might think: Why should I care? Well, all the short st...

This article is part three of How to Write a Book ( Part One , Part Two ). Today I take the theory I laid out in my previous two posts ...

The first murder victim is unique. Of course talking about a first victim assumes there will be more than one murder victim. True. Bu...

As I mentioned in my last post , I’ve recently read Deborah Chester’s excellent book, “ The Fantasy Fiction Formula .” Inevitably, I ...

Let’s create a sidekick! Over the past few posts I’ve talked quite a lot about theory, now it’s time for the rubber to hit the roa...

How do we create interesting characters, characters with depth and conflicting desires? Today I talk about 10 ways writers can communic...

This post on how to create a sidekick for your detective is part of my How to Write a Murderously Good Mystery series. Today I’...

Yesterday  we looked at the function of the sidekick in a murder mystery. Today I want to look at the sidekicks tag’s and traits,...