I'm reading Creativity, Inc. by Ed Catmull.[1] For me, the most interesting parts are where Catmull talks about failure and how to...

What follows is the final section of Parts of Story: Plot . (Yes, I'm doing a happy dance !)  If you've been enjoying these ...

The other day I watched a video of Lee Child talking about writing. It was a question and answer period and someone asked how he go...

What is suspense and how is it created? Lee Goldberg once said that, "Suspense is an escalating sense of apprehension or fear,...

Here we are at last. This is the last post in a five part series on how to write a short story the Lester Dent way. (Here's a link ...

I've already discussed conflict and the importance of having goals, but a goal is useless without stakes. Stakes are the possi...

One of the most useful tools or techniques for writing engaging prose is the try-fail cycle. The try-fail cycle lies at the heart of ho...

Have you read George R.R. Martin's interview in Rolling Stone magazine? I was amazed and a little shaken by the depth of Martin...

In the previous chapter we discussed the structure of a sequel. Now lets talk about what a sequel does and how it does it. Jim Butche...

The other day I wrote about James Patterson (see: 7 Tips From James Patterson For Writing Suspenseful Prose ). I learned a lot about th...