Now that you know who your main characters are inside  and out, you’re ready to round out your cast! Every main character needs a sidekick, BFF, mentor, assistant, rival, antagonistic villain, etc.—someone who challenges or supports who the MC is and helps to move the story along through action, dialogue, and conflict. Like your main character(s), it’s important to develop your supporting roles fully. A three-dimensional secondary character should be fully fleshed out and serve a role that is memorable. … Read More »

A blogging colleague recently looked at some ways in which the setting of a novel could become so dynamic as to be a real character. I would like to expand upon that idea, because just as you want every character to be deep and three-dimensional, so it would be a shame to waste the opportunities setting gives you to deepen the whole story. The Gormenghast Syndrome In Mervyn Peake’s off-beat trilogy, the eponymous castle of Gormenghast might be said to … Read More »

If you’re like me, you’re a writer who enjoys a little bit of ritual with their work time. Perhaps you have a favorite chair, a special cozy sweater, a certain candle, a preferred flavor of coffee or tea. Maybe even all of the above. Our creature comforts can be a feast for all the senses, but do you find yourself clinging to just one or two descriptive categories in your work? Let’s jump in and see what you can do … Read More »

Okay, you’ve slogged through a difficult — even hellish — first draft (or two). Your plots are working (external and internal voyages), and your characters have depth. Good. And now you need a break. You’re in luck! Now it’s time to play. That is, to play a kind of hide & seek with words that are precise, revealing, elegant, multi-faceted and, even, incantatory. In essence: the right words. It will be fun because, if you’re like most writers, you come … Read More »

Do you struggle to write short? Is your style more Hemingway or Faulkner? There are famous authors known for writing long, beautiful sentences. It’s not easy. But, either is writing one that can cut like a knife in six words or less. For this month’s blog, I wanted to discuss ways to strengthen our work by using fewer words. My first job was writing for a newspaper. Editors expected me to strip away unnecessary words. They weren’t as strict about … Read More »

The world you create for your readers has to be a place they can picture in their minds. It has to be believable, even if it’s a fantasy world. It’s like a base camp; your reader needs to be able to settle there and feel comfortable as they acquaint themselves with the characters you create and the adventures you send them on. My novel-in-progress is set in two time periods — present-day New York City and 14th century Scotland. I … Read More »