I hope this unfortunate stay-at-home time finds you healthy and itching to write. Indeed, did you know that this year marks the 200th anniversary of James Fenimore Cooper’s first novel The Spy?  Many recognize Cooper as our country’s first great novelist. Since I was a teenager, his wordy novels have always drawn me in with their heroic accounts of difficult times in early America. Consequently, those of us who might want to honor Cooper this year with our own Great … Read More »

I am only an occasional writer of haiku, but I adore the form. Studying it, I’ve found that there’s a lot we can learn from haiku which we can apply to all sorts of writing—in other verse forms or in prose. Now, I bet you’re thinking: brevity. Sure. That’s the most obvious aspect of haiku. And brevity is great to keep in mind when we’re writing anything. But there are other concepts from this verse form that we can use, … Read More »

What is a hook? A hook is a plot scenario, line of dialogue, or intriguing description that makes the reader (be it an agent, editor, or someone who buys your published novel) want to continue reading. It’s something in your story that’s so compelling that the reader CAN’T put the book down. It’s the sort of thing that makes them miss their train stop or stay up late into the night cursing you when the morning alarm goes off. It’s … Read More »

Much can be said in praise of silence (is that a contradiction in terms?). There are at least two kinds of golden silence that can add to the power of our writing, just as the “space between the notes” is the silent power of music. You can probably think of more, but here are a few of my reflections. Silence of the characters We all work hard to make dialogue lifelike and pithy. Sometimes the trailing thoughts of real-life speech … Read More »

I love a good simile. Who doesn’t? They shoot off fireworks in the mind—stimulating. And a good simile is a point of connection between an author and a reader. Similes and metaphors say: Look! I’ve noticed a connection between these two things. Do you? Similes add another layer of enjoyment when we read. So, what’s a simile? Both metaphors and similes make comparative connections. But let’s stick to similes for the moment. A simile is a comparison between two things … Read More »

Since this is my first post for the FWA blog, it seemed appropriate that I talk about beginning a novel, or any piece of writing, really. Now, I’m not going to get into plotting vs. pantsing vs. plantsing. That will need its own post. So let’s assume that you’ve already done the planning work, in whichever way you do it, and you’ve already completed any research necessary to write your piece. Great! You’re all set to start writing, right? Hmm … Read More »