In Stephen King’s no-nonsense guide, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft, he includes a chapter titled, “What Writing Is.” Good question. Probably many good answers. King’s answer? It’s “Telepathy, of course.” He elucidates: when we write, we’re simply sending, by way of words, our thoughts into readers’ minds. That’s our aim—to transfer in an interesting, provocative, entertaining, informative, well-structured, and compelling way what is alive in our minds without confusing our readers. Clear telepathy We want no static to … Read More »

You’ve heard it before: Scenes are the building blocks of story. Sounds simple, doesn’t it?  But it isn’t. Those blocks have complexity.Scenes are stories within the story and charged with energy. Whole books are written about how to write effective scenes, and we can spend our whole lives learning to write better and better ones. But here’s something for starters: Ten things to know about writing scenes. A scene is a small story. It has a clear beginning, middle, and … Read More »

Tears sell books. It’s true. I don’t have any stats or evidence to prove this, but it’s just one of those fundamental truths. When we dive into a book, we want to explore the reality conveyed in that book, to become part of the story. This involves emotional involvement and without it, books get put down. Creating emotional impact is arguably the single most important, and perhaps most difficult, aspect to writing fiction. Without it, the story is doomed from … Read More »

Write what you know. That is one of the clichés drilled in our heads as writers from day one. Interesting concept until you start asking questions. Like, so, do authors of serial killer novels… kill people? Are romance novelists the epitome of lovemaking? Did writers of kids books ever grow up? Sure, those are silly questions, but when we get down to it, how connected are we to our creations? And more importantly, to our characters? Is your protagonist someone … Read More »

Let me tell you the true story of two writers who have many things in common—and one important difference. Both writers had completed first drafts for mysteries with an edge of romance. They are both avid readers with little writing experience or instruction. I had the privilege of doing manuscript evaluations for them. This was the first attempt at a novel for both of them. They had created interesting female protagonists and stories with great potential, and they both demonstrated … Read More »

Let’s take a little time and talk about rhyme. So, if I were to take that first line and divide it into two end-stopped lines of poetry: Let’s take a little time/and talk about rhyme I’d have the classic end-stopped exact rhyme we were introduced to as children. Rhyme can be that simple—and that ho-hum. However, if used in a more complex way rhyme can heighten the musicality of your writing. There is a great deal one can say about … Read More »